Ifve been neglectful in my updating duties because Ifve been too tired write about my day when I got home. The thing that has me smiling these days is how green the scenery is getting around here. Each day I notice some other thing that has turned green or is in bloom or whatever else. I thought Santa Barbara was the epitome all things naturally green. I stand corrected.
ABC News did a segment on the very subjective nature of the news coverage on the war in Iraq. Apparently different news outlets are putting their own slant on covering the war in Iraq. All I have to say is: duh! ABC News looked at how Fox News, a very pro-Bush administration news outlet has covered the war while juxtaposing it local agencies in the area. Some of the local news channels were very anti-coalition, while some seemed to see merit in the war. However, all of the local agencies (that were included in the report at least) felt the Americans could not be trusted because it was promised we (the Americans) would not enter Fallujah, but our forces are advancing.
One of the interesting points that was brought up took the form of an American operated news outlet to counter the anti-American stations in the area. Coalition Occupational Authority feels the Iraqi should be better informed. Hmm. So let me see if I get this straight: the Bush administration is trying to manipulate news coverage here and in Iraq. You have to give President Bush points for doing a complete job.
As this is being written the Lakers up are by 25 points, with 5:33 to play in the game. Kobe has take the bench and Shaq is the only remaining starter on the court. Lakers advance. The San Antonio Spurs had better be eating their Wheaties.
I mulched much today. My cousin got one of the neighbors he was helping doing some yardwork, to give him the left over mulch from his project. James had the bright idea of carting all of this back to our house. This mulch mound came to my chest and as wide as my arms outstretched. So today we mulched. It was cool to get my hands dirty. Some I'd like to have a house with a backyard to do vegetable and herb garden.
Iron Chef America. The original Iron Chef from Japan was awesome, even if though it had its really cheesy melodramatic bits. Still it was a spectacle! Chairman Kaga was just over the top! The layout of kitchen stadium was nothing Martha Stewart could think up in wildest, stock dumping days.
I admit I was looking forward to seeing Iron Chef America, but alas the show has lost some of its luster despite the all-star talent it sports. Here is why I think why the show just isnft the same:
1) The new 'chairman' is way too GQ. Chairman Kaga, the original appeared passionate about the food, challengers and the spectacle. This new chairman is too laid back.
2) What's having 3 theme ingredients? NO! Make it a challenge and make the chefs create all their dishes focusing one theme ingredient!
3) Alton Brown, the host, needs co-host. Sort of like how sport events will be hosted be a knowledgeable person and their buddy who knows a thing or two. You could tell that Alton was struggling for stuff to say at times. If there was another body there to bounce stuff off of, ask questions, be a bit provocative, and just add MORE to the commentary it would be that much better.
4) The new kitchen stadium is cool to look at, but it looks very sterile. It looks like someone went hog wild ordering every cool gadget out of a high end restaurant catalog. Basically the new kitchen stadium looks possible, whereas the old kitchen stadium looked barely probable. The lighting too made the place look really 'Hollywood' – and NOT in a good way!
What I liked about the show:
1) Alton Brown makes for an awesome commentator combining whit and culinary knowledge.
2) The American Iron Chefs are really great. It would have been good to see some chefs no one knew, so there would be an element of surprise.
3) There was no skimping on ingredients!!!
Spring has asserted itself clearly over the last few weeks and today was a prime example of this. All of those trees that looks like tall dead stick people, are now showing signs of green. Those lawns suffering from herbal baldness are coming back to life. Having lived in either California or the Caribbean all my life, Ifve never experienced actual true seasonal changes and this is just awesome.
One of my favorite pieces of music is Vivaldifs, Four Seasons and lately I have been listening to it more intently trying to hear something new. Either way it is an awesome piece.
A monsoon rolled into Northern Virginia and hell came riding along with it! People came in from outside looking like they doused with buckets of water. Then it occurred to me, the windows on my car were cracked because I hate with a burning passion walking into a car with heat thatfs been pent up! I run outside and low and behold the windows were indeed cracked and the wind had blown the rain clear across the interior of the car.
The great thing of a serious rain like that, is how fresh everything smells after. On the way home I drove with my windows down and drank in all that sweet, frigid, clean, fresh smelling air.
There is a candidate for this presidential election, whose name will not appear on the ballot, but it should. This candidate is an inspiring orator, with a first rate support system providing excellent technical, political and oratorical backup. This candidate is well educated and possesses first rate diplomatic credentials. Honor, integrity and fairness are an integral part of this candidate's character. Unfortunately this candidate will never see his name on a local or national ballot. His ability to communicate to the people and leave them feeling they are part of the political process, rather than feeling like they came to take a flight that had already left an hour before. President-elect Jed Bartlet will never see the highest office, because the character is the artful politico creation of Aaron Sorkin on NBC's The West Wing.
I love The West Wing, with devotion unparalleled by most any other show I watch. Tonight the show centered on the recent exodus of American jobs abroad, specifically to India in this case. Without getting into all of the nuances of trade agreements, free trade, et al: we live in a global economy. And someday I may very loose my job to outsourcing to another country and it will suck hard. But guess what: if we all still want our Wal-Marts, Targets, K-Marts, and cheap goods sold at other locations, trade agreements and free trade is a necessary evil. We can buy goods cheaply, because they are manufactured cheaply. Do you want a higher minimum wage for Americans or for Americans to make to make goods cheaply? The other evil is corporations could lower prices on goods, but they know that people will buy them, so they can make their deep profits and keep prices. I'm not a socialist, communist or a Marxist. I am a full on capitalist, with propensities towards fairness.
Aside: you know what effin' cracks me up? CNN segments that contain bits of Hip Hop songs. Thus far, Ifve noticed 50 Cent and Missy song's being ripped. And Ifm not even talking for use with entertainment segments. Haha! Love it!
It is officially convertible weather out here. Which brings up something that I have to scratch my head on: why do people who own expensive cool convertibles in wonderful weather NOT drop their tops? Keep that mind clean! Haha! Save for making a quick run to the 7/11 or another quick jaunt, OK, itfs not worth dropping the top. However if the run is significant, why not drop that baby?? I scratch my head as people in their convertible BMW M3s, SAAB 9-3s, et al with the top up! What gives??
As this is being written, the Lakers are playing Game 2 against the Houston Rockets and it is much better game tonight. The Houston Rockets have reduced their turn-overs considerably, and playing excellent defense making the Lakers work for it. Karl Malone is working his old butt off, diving for the loose balls and raining down field goals, like manna from above.
And the Lakers go into Game 3 on Friday with a 94-88 win over the Rockets tonight. From some random high school physics I remember momentum is said to equal mass times acceleration. Do I even need to fill in the formula? The Spurs whooped on the Grizzlies like ugly, buck-toothed, red headed step children and lead their series after their 87-70 victory. Tonight's stand out performance came from Kareem Rush contributing 2 3-pointers in each of the series' game from off the bench. The Lakers bench is kicking butt, taking names later.
This has been a really quiet weekend with work interspersed between downtime at home. There is not a whole lot to write about, but let's see what I think ofc
The Lakers won their first game against the Houston Rockets by one point. But a win is a win, so who cares! Frankly, no team exists in the NBAfs East that will be sufficient competition against the bad boys in the West. The only hope for comp comes in the name of the Minnesota Timberwolves led by K.G., a.k.a. Kevin Garnett. As I write this, the Timberwolves are opening a six pack of Costco sized whoop ass on the Denver Nuggets. The lead as of this moment is 20 points in favor of the Timberwolves. What I wouldn't give for a comfy couch, a 50" HDTV and something cold to drink. (Aside: Mark Madsen just AIR BALLED a free throw. How the hell does a professional athlete AIR BALL a free throw shot??)
Correction: I totally forgot about the Detroit Pistons who have the best defense in the league. It'll be interesting to see how the Pistons fare against the T'wolves.
At work we talked about the pressure to sell extended service plans after we closed the store. Herefs my 2 cents on any sort of extended service plans or warranties: measure the worse case cost scenario of not having a plan, against the cost of purchasing a plan.
This formula is by no means cut and dry rule. Like most anything in life, nothing is black and white. However, if for a couple of hundred bucks you could protect the very expensive, huge, big beautiful flat display on your $2,000 laptop, why not get the plan? LCDs in particular are notorious for dead pixels. Why not take out the added insurance, seeing as how most manufacturers leave you hanging after only 12 months? These kinds of plans are perfect for big ticket items, with manufacturer warranties, that see a lot of use.
On the flip side of that, if someone doesnft want or can not afford the extra coverage, I'm not going to ram it down their throats. Let's face it is indeed extra, as you get a standard warranty, no matter how weak that warranty is. Donft believe me? Take the time to read the terms. Any terms of a warranty for any electronic devices. Anyway, I think it is unconscionable to bombard customers over and over again with the notion that they need to buy something extra they don't want to. I see the merit of most extended coverage plans, but I donft see the merit of leaning on sales people to sell them. The net effect is that it turns faithful customers into, into those who make a bee line for your competition. Thankfully where I work, there are no people who are as ruthless as pushing this stuff as I've heard. They aren't ruthless, because they are smart at selling and know when to back off. They deserve props for that.
Today my car and I bonded for the first in too many months. I washed it twice because it didn't look quite right after the first go. Oh my baby looks good. The only thing that's really needed right now is to thoroughly vacuum inside. I hate running around with my car all dirty even though the paint does a really good job of hiding just how much filth is on it. So when my aunt got home, she was like, "what did you do to it?? Polish it?" I simply responded that I had skills. Quite proud of my car washing skills frankly.
Then James (little cousin) and I went fishing behind our house and did our own bonding. More to the point, we fed fish, while keeping a hook in the water. It was fun nonetheless. One of these days soon, I'll get back there and take some pics of the lake/stream thing. It's really quite something.
#1 Effin' hate taxes. With all the moving around I did, my double damned W-2s got lossed in the mail. Literally.
#2 I love Lynn Whitfield. She is one of the most beautiful women on film period. You want to talk about talent and grace wrapped up into on beautiful package? And at 46 she has more stopping power and eye candy than women half her age. Who says women loose when they get older? Some women just keeping getting better. Yes, Cami, you are in this group too with your fine self!
Whitfield co-starred with Jamie Foxx in the movie Redemption and Jamie has to get his props for doing an excellent job. This is a far cry when he came into a San Diego club and proceeded to buy only the "hot women" apple martinis, during one of my visits to the city. All this notwithstanding Foxx did a brilliant job and I highly recommend Redemption as a must see.
I am a computer specialist at large electronics retailer. We are paid a good base so we donft get commission, but there is still competition to see who can sell the most. While training I was selling my FIRST day. Today I sold over $9,000! The first part of the shift was slow, but I ended up staying 2 hours later than when scheduled. However, the best part was customers were coming back and asking for me by name to help them out. That made my day.
Tonight I saw the funniest effin' thing on TV. Wayne Brady was a guest on the Dave Chappelle show, and they did greatest segment where they showed Wayne as being a total gangsta. He had a Lexus SUV rolling on some serious dubs, they were off collecting money from Waynefs 'hoes', they rolled up on some guys and Wayne whipped out his AK-47 and did a drive bycit was friggin' funny. It was hilarious to see him the total opposite of what people are used to seeing. The really scary thing was how believable he was when he was being a bad ass and threatening Dave. WAYNE BRADY LOOKING ALL THUG! Good television. They kept saying how having Wayne Brady on television made Bryant Gumball look like Malcolm X. Had me rolling!
HBOfs Deadwood is perhaps the best show on TV, second to NBCfs The West Wing. Deadwood is a gritty, sardonic and raw image of the Old West replete with some of the most in your face characters ever to portray those characters. Therefs the saloon whore takes no crap and will shoot johns in the face if they hit her at the drop of the hat. Personally, I think any man who hits a woman does need to be shot in the head immediately thereafter or during the event. Then therefs the saloon owner who can think of just about every grammatical use for the word gfuckh. The showfs appeal is in its total lack of the stereotypical romanticized view of how the West was one.
The West Wing. Gawd, what can I say about that? The West Wing is brilliantly written, incredibly well cast, impeccably researched. I wonder where it is written that compliments must come in 3fs, but in this case I could never say enough good things about West Wing. Part of why I like the show is because supporting actors play an integral role in the process. The other reason why I love the show is because the women in it are portrayed just as smart, just as competitive and just as insightful as the men. Oh yea: all of the women are sexy as hell. Every last one of them in their own way: Mary Louise Parker, Allison Janney, NiCole Robinson, Stockard Channing, and Janel Moloney. All of them rock hard.
So Ifm watching A Cookfs Tour on the Food Network, about this famous French restaurant in California called The French Laundry. The host of the show is Tony Bourdain, a renowned chef who was made famous by writing about some of the shady practices that go on in New York restaurants. Bourdain also travels around the world and partaking of the antithesis of touristy, middle of the road, and commercial foods. Needless to say, I have much respect for Mr. Bourdain.
So at The French Laundry, Bourdain and 3 of his friends are being treated to a cheffs menu. A cheffs menu is a complete meal, where the patron doesnft choose, but rather the chef will pick everything from the beverages, salad, soup and whatever else. The chef at The French Laundry puts together a menu of 20 courses, spanning 3 hours!! How DOPE is that?! Ifve had as many 8 courses at dinner, but 20 is mine blowing. The stuff they were eating were works of art and look absolutely packed with flavor. The menu was absolutely decadent.
For one of the courses, they were offered these salts, but Ifm certain I left out a few:
Sea saltc
Maui saltc
Kosher saltc
And perhaps the most exotic, Montana salt (as in the US) salt from a Jurssaic era dry lake bed, said to be from a sea that existed 200 million years ago
Not all of the salts were the usual white and were said to have different mixes of minerals that altered the flavors slightly. Tony Bourdain placed the true decadence of the meal as such, gitfs like driving around in the Rolls Royce, buck naked only in a pair of mink boxers.h
Today I had the best surprise: my friendfs mom called me. She (my friendfs mom) is really cool and was giving me a hard time for why we couldnft have seen each other this weekend. My aunts told me she was looking for me, but didnft think shefd bring it to me. Haha!
Grandmas rock. There is simply no other way to put it. Last night I came home late from work and missed dinner, and there was a note on the counter saying there was some dinner in the microwave for me. Tonight again I missed dinner and sitting on the counter was dinner. How cool is that? And my grandmother back home will periodically send me care packages of goodies from St. Thomas. Grandmas rock!!!
As we were about to leave work, everyone was called to the Loss Prevention station where on-camera they found some guys goofing off in the middle of the store. They were doing some nunchucks like sort of fight in the middle of their area using packing material from the stuff they were supposed to be setting up. I asked as we watched if this was happening right now, and LP guy was like yea it is. It was freaking hilariously because the manager walked into the area and they boy tried to play it off. One of those thing youfd see on RealTV or Americafs Stupidest Employees caught on tape.
Tonight was wrought with hilarious high school flashbacks and antics. Me and my friend Asaunta recanted some of the antics that went on at our high school. Stuff like the really sick sordid nick names we used to give people. Oh the horrorcstuff like, gDisco Dumplinh, gHelmeth, gHelmet Jr.h and gLight bulbh (my moniker) were spoken aloud again for the first time in many, many moons.
I know some people said they hated high school. It sucked for them. They were in therapy. They were late bloomers and got no love from the opposite sex. They turned out to be mean, evil people and never grew up and will probably in turn make mean evil little people. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Not me and Asaunta and some of the people I have kept in contact with since high school. Asaunta, that girl, my girl, she is funny as hell. Talking to her is instant comedy and makes good of any day. One of the things that makes talking to her so awesome is the rapport. When we talk itfs like verbal high velocity tennis, with lulls between sets. Totally awesome. We joke that if we were ever roommates we would never sleep because wefd be talking so much.
gI have to work tomorrow from 10 to 5.h I made this statement tonight at home and it totally rocked me to my heels. My grandmother wanted something done tomorrow, but I had to tell her that I was working and that just blew me away. Ordinarily I would be like, ghey sure G-ma (yes I do use that out loud haha) Ifll do xyz.h So, so weird and so, so cool!
Today I was reminded of how depraved some peoplefs minds work. You think that some truly sick thoughts are reserved for books or Hollywood movies. The kind of stuff some writer with a twisted mind throws together for a quick come back or a good one liner. Then you realize youfre watching a show or reading a book, and all is good in the world again. Tonight I was reminded that some sick stuff actually does live in peoplefs minds. Worse yet, some of that crap gets out there. The First Amendment at its best.
On other news, I head for an appointment that was supposed to have been made last week and when I got there no one was there. A huge pet peeve of mine is to make plans and then have them flaked upon with no notice. A BIGGER pet peeve is to be at the pre-determined time and place and no one shows. Loose mad credibility that way.
And where the hell does this hour we gain and loose come and go from? I hate the time change to no end. Not to mention it wreaks havoc on my fragile sleep patterns as it is. I envy people who can just drop to sleep at some pre-determined time. Most nights I have so much stuff on my mind, it takes an hour or more for actual sleep to kick in.
A good friend from church came by tonight to join us for dinner tonight and with dinner she got the floor show from the kids who were in true form tonight. Apparently Aunt Di gave them a treat with a bit of sugar involved and they were bouncing off the walls with no end of energy in sight! It probably didnft help that there was a bit of sugar in the meal I prepared too. That combined with having a guest at the table added to the fire.
My friend and I as a result got to talking about kids, if we wanted them, what kind of parents we would be, etc. They said they would be strict, and I can kind of see that in them in a good way. At the same time, I can also see them bending over backwards for their family. I definitely think Ifll be strict. I donft put up with a lot from kids in the way of disrespect, rudeness, backtalk, and stuff like that. Not having any of that. Hopefully I'll also be a fun dad and impart some life skills to my kids.
Duke got spanked. I donft care much for college basketball unless UCSB is involved, but if I happen to catch a game, I go for the underdog. Tonight, instead of going bowling we all stayed and watched the Duke vs. UConn game, and happily Duke isnft advancing.
(As I write this the Lakers play the Rockets at Staples center and in about 2 hours Ifm gonna be one really happy camper or one really annoyed Lakers fan! Then again, with a win the Lakers would tied in the West for first place. Hmm, I was never a fan of sharing even for first place! Ha! And the hell was the last time a team from the Eastern Conference won an NBA Championship??)
First up, saw The Lady Killers tonight with my twin aunts and that movie is well worth the price of admission. It was freaking hilarious! I was talking to a friend about Tom Hanks, and how although Hanks is a VERY talented actor, most of his roles are very eHanksf. His character are always likeable, no matter how bad ass he is, they always have that approachability and itfs just very Hanks. Personally I think his biggest stretch on the big screen was his role in Philadelphia. All that aside, The Lady Killers is worth full price. Bring some tissue because you will be laughing so hard youfre gonna cry!
As I write this, I contemplate my real life journal that I write in. The other night when I wrote in it, I couldnft stop writing and went through 5 pages back and front. Yes, believe it or not, my deepest and most honest thoughts donft make it onto the Treehouse Journal. And if you think I really do spill my guts on this one – psyche! Sorry babe, this is the proverbial tip of the iceberg.
Today it started to rain and it made me happy. Ifm talking real rain in measurable quantities, replete with grey sky. I love that. California is a really awesome place to live, but you donft get 4 TRUE seasons if you live in a major city. The rain today could very well be considered April showers. It was niiiice.