Here's to...

To go with the last post, here's a shot of my MOTHER and I (from about a year ago), hoisting a hefeweizen to YOU:

My MOTHER, hardcore beer drinker.

In a previous post, I mentioned a comment my dad made suggesting that I lay off the booze for the holidays. Anyone who knows me well would find this comment odd, as I'm really not that much of a boozer anymore. Sure, I drank like a fish in college and enjoy a beer or two now and then, but I'm far from an alcoholic.

Anyway, I do enjoy my beer and have my MOTHER to credit for that. She's German, and ever since I was a kid, she's enjoyed her beer too. Here's a classic MOTHER example from my childhood that illustrates her fondness for brew. Like many people, she used to kick back and relax after a long day at work with a beer. Not just any beer, mind you; Blatz was her favorite. She'd have one or maybe two - rarely any more than that - and she'd usually fall asleep there on the couch with the TV on, a half-full Blatz at her side.

Here's the best part. She is so German and hardcore about her beer, that she would wake up the next morning and finish that warm, flat, half full can of Blatz.I can only aspire to those heights of beer devotion.

Stealth photographer

My dad hates having his picture taken. If I want to get candid shots (or any shots) of him, I have to do it on the sly. Use my little point 'n shoot camera with the beep and the flash turned off, and aim blindly. He invited Melba and I over to his non-girlfriend's house for some ham on Sunday, and I managed to snag a few shots of him before he clued in. These first two were snagged with flash, but the rest were done with a somewhat steady hand and a poker face:Ahh... he finally figured me out. Good thing he has no knowledge of teh internets. He'll never see these photos.

Thanks Given.

Brush with greatness

I apologize for the boredom-inducing length of that last post. With no pictures to use as a crutch, I get all wordy and dull. Won't happen again.

I feel inspired by a few other blogs that I read to do a post detailing my brushes with famous people. I lived in LA for 5 years, but since I don't notice famous people unless they're standing in front of me, I don't have a very long list. Here goes:

• Jean-Claude Van Damme cut me off in traffic on the 405 in his Bentley convertible. But he did give me the "I'm sorry" wave afterward, so he's cool.
• Jimmy Kimmel held the door for me as I exited the Virgin Megastore on Sunset once. Cool.
• I was an engineering assistant on a press junket for the movie "Monster", so I got to ogle Christina Ricci and Charlize Theron. They seemed friendly, but I found Bruce Dern to be more interesting to listen to.
• I was having a drink with my good friend Susan at the W hotel in Westwood when I heard a unique voice from the table behind me that was oddly familiar. It was Leonard Nimoy. We listened in on his conversation with his wife.
  
• This last one isn't mine, but I find it funny. My evil former landlord/upstairs neighbor once overheard this conversation at Nick's Liquor, a little convenience store around the corner from where I used to live. Clerk: How are ya, Johnny? Customer: Rotten. 'Twas Johnny Rotten.
  

Skin neck tid dee

Frequent readers will be surprised to learn that I did not take any pictures during the trip to Schenectady this weekend. I don't even have a good excuse for not shooting - it just seemed that most of our excursions were either too mellow to be snapping pics, or I had left the camera behind.

We arrived Friday evening, and my good friend Crash and his wife Mrs. C picked us up at the Albany airport. We dropped our luggage off at their home and headed out to a very cool little pub in Schenectady called Pinhead Susan's. They don't have a website (!), but an explanation of the name can be found here. By the time we'd polished off a few pints (mmm... Guinness) at Pinhead Susan's, the entirely mediocre band had kicked into high gear, so we decided to call it a night.

Saturday morning, Melba and I slept in, then enjoyed a great little home cooked breakfast by Mrs. C. After breakfast, the four of us set out on a tour of Schenectady and the surrounding burgs in Crash's "family sedan", a BMW M5. I hope to someday have a family sedan with 400 horsepower. The tour included a stop at a lock and dam on the Mohawk River, but no boats were passing through that day. We picked up lunch from one of the local Italian bakeries nearby, and relaxed for a few hours after chowing down.

Saturday evening, Crash and Mrs. C treated Melba and I to a wonderful dinner at The Stockade Inn. The food, wine, and setting were first rate - and the company was even better. We headed out after dinner in search for some entertainment, but pretty much struck out. Our first try was a jazz club that offered a band called Wishbone Ash that had supposedly been pretty popular in the 70s. Cover charge was $25 to go upstairs or sit downstairs at the bar for free; I'm glad we picked free. They didn't sound bad, but they weren't worth $25. We then headed out to a bar whose name I can't remember that was new, loud, and rapidly filling with drunk college kids. One drunk dude was belting out a particularly shitty version of The Doors' Riders On The Storm at full shout in the men's room while I was doin' my thing at the urinal. He totally ruined my enjoyment of the delicately scented urinal cake.
Thus ended our Saturday evening.

Sunday morning, Melba and I again slept in and realized a bit too late that our flight left at 11:19 and not 12:35 as I had originally thought. Crash was pretty sure we might make it in time anyway, and flogged the M5 as much as traffic and the wet roads would allow, but we still missed our flight out. Mad props to the friendly United Airlines gate agent who got us onto the next flight out and home only a couple of hours later than our original plan.

All in all, a fun, mellow, and relaxing weekend with the great company and hospitality of Crash and Mrs. C.

Headin' out

Melba and I are flyin' to Schenectady, NY for the weekend. Tune in next week for a full trip report, pictures, lies, innuendo, etc. etc.

Changing seasons

the clouds have returned
fall kicks my ass yet again
need me some sunshine

dark in the a.m.
dark early in the p.m.
holy crap, it's dark

gray skies every day
temperature dropping fast
winter sucks, I drink

evil cold weather
remember now why I moved
this climate sucks ass

complaining weather
friends and family tired
tell me "suck it up"

Ode to my blender

A good blender is a necessity. Like a killer toaster , a blender with balls is a must-have tool in every kitchen. You can buy yourself one of those cheapass $20 jobbies with a plastic pitcher, but I tell ya - you'll burn the motor out on it in no time breaking ice. You get what you pay for in blenderville. I know - I must have bought 4 of those cheap pieces of crap before I finally got a good one.

A few years ago, I asked for a kickass blender for Christmas, and I got one:That, my friends is a Cuisinart Smart Power 7 speed electronic blender. You can fill that big 'ol heavy glass pitcher up with nothing but ice, and it'll turn it into snow faster than you can say "a doo da day".

The only thing I would change on it if I was running the show is to drop 5 of the speeds. I only use the slowest and fastest speeds:The rest of the speeds are just extra buttons.

I'm a bit embarrassed to say that I forgot who gave this to me for Christmas. Whoever you are, thank you again. It's a gift that keeps on giving.

Dad

That's me and my dad. I used to love riding up on my dad's shoulders; I could see the entire world from up there. So cool.

Quote of the day

My dad, talking about my plans for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday:

"Hey. Go easy on the liquor."

I guess you had to be there.

Also...

Now that the elections are over, can we stop using the word "gubernatorial"? Who came up with that word? I bet it was some guy who thought "Hey, we need a word to describe things that relate to a governor. How about a word with goober in it?"

My short list of words that suck:

gubernatorial
panties
moist

"After a long sultry moment, Schwarzenegger slowly removed his moist gubernatorial panties."

Ick.

What now?

I hesitate to comment on things political, mainly because I live by a personal mantra that states I will not spew forth on topics I know nothing about. So instead of soapboxing my own uninformed opinions, I want to ask a few questions:

1. Now that the Democrats control the House, what will change? It seems that Bush will lose his rubber stamp, but he's been doing a pretty good job of going around Congress for the last 6 years anyway - what will stop that?

2. Latest news reports say that Democrats have a shot at a majority in the Senate as well. If that happens, what will keep Bush from becoming a lame duck president?

3. Rumsfeld is gone, despite Bush's assurances last week that Rumsfeld and Cheney are in for the long haul. Will Cheney be next?

Comments welcome.

Cereal.

Hindsight.

Apologies.