LOST

I'm excited that I bought Season 4 of Lost. It is one of my favorite shows and the new season starts January 20. It is very important to refresh myself on last season, because Lost is one of those shows that is more enjoyable if you remember everything that has happened previously.

Spotted

We saw Alfonso Ribeiro at Target in Burbank. You know him from "The Fresh Prince of Bel- Air", and "Silver Spoons" if you're cool!

Camera

Yesterday we purchased this Olympus camera. CJ has a digital SLR that he uses to take nice, professional looking pictures. Sometimes though, it's too bulky to take certain places where you don't want to carry around a camera bag. Therefore, we decided to get a smaller digital camera that we can just put in our pocket. We found a great deal on this camera and will have fun taking pictures.

Backup

I'm excited and relieved!! Yesterday I found an amazing deal at Target on this backup hard drive for my computer. It was marked down to $68! By far the best price I have seen for a 500 GB hard drive.

I have been searching the sale ads for the past couple of months looking for the best price on these things. I'm always worried something might happen to my computer and I will lose all my information. Now I have a backup and I feel more secure. The only problem is that it took 2 hours to back up all my files, music, and picture. It's a small price to pay for security!

Christmas Tree

Here is our small Christmas Tree we put up recently. It's not the best picture, but you get the idea. It's hard to take a picture of a tree with fiber optic lights and it not come out blurry.

Luggage

A couple of weekends ago we walked into Mervin's. For those of you outside of California, Mervin's is like Kohl's or J.C. Penny. Mervin's, like many other stores, is going out of business.
Because of this, we knew that we might get a good deal at the store.

I will be traveling to Indiana soon and we desperately need a new piece of luggage. Our old one is falling apart and is not very big. We found this nice American Tourister bag for 70% off. It was a great deal so we had to buy. It's roomy and even bigger than our current bag. Of course, CJ likes it because it's blue.

Spotted

You may know Kathryn Joosten from Desperate Housewives and The West Wing. She sat at the table next to us at a restaurant on Saturday.

007

We just got back from "Quantum of Solace", the newest James Bond movie. It picked up where the last Bond movie, "Casino Royale", left off. It was action packed and I liked it very much. I've always been a huge fan of 007 and I like what they have done with the most recent movies.

Spotted - Day Off Edition

Yesterday was Veterans Day! Luckily, my job gives me the day off. So, I decided to go to Warner Brothers Studio to visit CJ. While we were on the lot we saw the following people.





Eriq Lasalle (known from "ER") was driving off the lot in his Mercedes.





Danny Pino (Television show "Cold Case") was walking to his trailer.





Tony Okungbowa (Ellen Degeneres' DJ on her talk show) was walking with a friend.



I don't think I've seen that many celebrities at one time.

Changeling

Last Saturday we went to see Changeling. I'm not a huge Angelina Jolie fan, but I was interested in seeing the movie. One reason is that most films that Clint Eastwood directs happen to be very good and it is based on a true story that occurred here in Los Angeles.


It was a bit long at 2 hours and 20 minutes but I enjoyed watching the movie.

It's the story of a woman whose son goes missing in 1920's LA. Instead of finding the woman's boy, the corrupt police department returns a kid that looks like her son. As she tries to tell them it is not her son, they call her a liar and even through her in a mental institution to shut her up. While this is going on, a separate police investigation uncovers clues to what happened to her child.

Spotted

Today we spotted Christian Siriano walking into Gucci at the Beverly Center.

Christian was the winner of Season 4 of Project Runway.

VOTE

This weekend, CJ and I completed our absentee ballots for the 2008 elections. It is so much easier to vote from home, then have to make your way to a polling center and wait in line. There is no pressure to get through the ballot, and you can drink coffee while you fulfilling your civic duty. No matter how you do it... VOTE!!!!

Nothing

Hi again! I don't have anything fun to say. I know I haven't blogged for a while, but I haven't been doing much.
As soon as something exciting happens I will blog.

Cubs Post Season

I can’t believe that I got post season tickets to the Cubs game this Saturday. Since they are playing the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first round I had to get tickets. Unfortunately for me, I had to buy it from a “legitimate” re-sale website called Stubhub. It is the official re-seller of tickets for Major League Baseball. Basically, people buy up tickets at face value and re-sell them on Stubhub for over face value. It is a legitimate scalping operation. So, I forked over the money, but I know it will be worth it in the end. Go Cubs Go!

Great Show!

I was very excited to receive the Six Feet Under complete series on DVD this week. I just happened to see last week that it was severely discounted for 24 hours on Amazon, so we had to go for it. Six Feet Under is one of my favorite TV dramas. It is about the Fisher family who run a funeral home. They are a very dysfunctional family and it’s about their life and re-connecting with each other after a tragedy. It was on HBO for five seasons. Luckily, it was planned to only go five seasons, so they were able to give the fans one of the best final episodes (and season) I have ever seen. I can’t wait to start re-watching the series.

Spotted

This weekend we spotted Faye Dunaway at the Arclight Movie Theater in Hollywood. She had her hat and sunglasses on so she could hide from everyone. I guess it didn’t work too well, because a lot of people noticed her. I’m not sure what movie she went to, but it wasn’t in our theater.

Spotted

On Saturday, CJ and I went to Chevy’s in Burbank (for those of you in Indiana, it’s a Mexican restaurant) for some fajitas. While we were there we saw Tony Hale. Now many of you may not know Tony, but he had a very funny role in the short lived TV show, “Arrested Development”. He played the socially inept Buster Bluth while working alongside other funny actors like Jason Bateman and Will Arnett. He also appeared on another short lived comedy with comedian Andy Richter called “Andy Barker, P.I.”

Spotted and MET!!!

This afternoon I was shocked to be introduced to Jorja Fox at work. I went up to the printer and when I turned around, I was introduced to her. Apparently, a co-worker of mine is friends with her and she stopped by the office to go to lunch with him. She was very nice and we had a short conversation.

You may know Jorja from CSI. She has been on CSI since it started, but recently, she left the show to pursue other projects. I have always liked her acting and wish she was still part of the show.

You know that I always see celebrities around town, but I never bother them. It was nice to actually meet one, and she turned out to be nice with no ego.

Wicked

On Thursday night we went to see the musical, Wicked. Like I talked about in an earlier post, I had never been to a musical. It was fun and the music was good.

You can check out the details on CJ's blog. You can click on the link on the right side of the page.

80's

All this weekend VH1 Classics had 80 Hours of the 80’s. It was a Labor Day weekend of all 80’s videos from A-Z. It was fun to flip over to the channel ever so often just to see what they were playing. I got to see videos I hadn’t seen in 20-25 years, and others I had never seen. It’s amazing how technology and years of “getting it perfected” has changed they way we look at any visual media from 25 years ago. It’s also fun to laugh at the clothes and hair styles of the period too!

Guitar Hero

CJ had talked about Guitar Hero when he got back from his trip to Indiana a few months ago. I had also heard from friends that it was a fun video game. So, this weekend we decided to buy it for our Playstation. If you aren’t familiar with it, it is a video game where you play along to real songs on a plastic guitar. There are 5 color coated buttons on the neck of the guitar and a “strumming” button on the body of the guitar. The point is to coordinate your hand to push the color coated button and strum at the same time along with the notes the game shows you to play. Does that make sense?

I was warned by a friend that it is nothing like playing a real guitar. With that warning in mind, I was worried how well I could play the game. I didn’t do too badly when I first started. Actually, I’ve almost beaten the easy level. For the most part, the easy level only has you use the top three color coated buttons. As you move up to harder levels of the game, they start including all five buttons, thus it gets a lot more difficult.

We spent a good five hours this weekend playing the game, and as a result, my left forearm is sore. CJ already beat the easy level, so he is the Hero in our house!

Journey to the Center of 3-D

On Saturday, we went to see Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D. As I assumed, it wasn’t a great movie. I mainly went to see the 3-D presentation of the movie. It looked very nice apart from the obvious 3-D gags like an actor pointing his finger at the audience or a yo-yo coming straight at me! I hope they use this technology in more movies (as I hear they are), because the movie comes alive with the actors in a 3 dimension plane rather than looking flat against the background. It would even be cooler if they could (in the future) put screens on the side of the theater walls and project the surrounding landscape from the movie onto these screens. It would make you feel like you are part of the movie even more so. I’m excited to hear that there is a movement to equip more theaters with 3-D technology. This is the only way Hollywood will make more features in 3-D.

Spotted

I saw Rob Corddry the other morning at Starbucks. You may know him from various small roles in films, but most probably know him from working on The Daily Show with John Stewart.

Ouch!

On Saturday, we went to the batting cages with some friends. It was really fun. I hadn’t been for at least eight years and it really showed when I got up to bat. Mind you, I didn’t do too badly. I wasn’t able to hit as many as I might have in the past, but it was still a good time. I would really like to go back once my muscles are ready for that punishment again. Once I do it a few times more times, my body will get accustomed to it and I won’t hurt so much.

I think I thoroughly enjoyed the batting cages, because of the memories it brought back from those hot, summer days in Indiana when we would play until the sun went down. CJ & I have actually talked about joining a softball league, but I think we need to work on our hitting first.

Smoking Fun!!!!!

Friday night was an awesome night here in LA. I went to see my favorite band, The Smoking Popes, at a club in Hollywood called the Knitting Factory. This band’s heyday was in the 90’s back in Chicago. They garnered a huge following that lead to a record deal with Capitol Records in the mid 1990’s. Due to various reasons, the band broke up in 1997. Of course, it always hurts when your favorite band breaks up, because most of the time it’s permanent. Luckily, the guys decided to give it another try and re-formed last year, 10 years after they broke up. I was so excited when I heard they were re-forming. They released a new album and just finished their west coast tour. I never had the chance to see them live in their first incarnation, but I didn’t pass up the opportunity this time. As I said to Eli Caterer, (guitarist for the band and presumably the only guy who sells the band’s merchandise) “It funny how I had to move to California to see the band live”.

My co-worker, Jessica, said she would go with me after hearing a few of their songs. She ended up having a good time, and she liked the band. She was also happy because Morrissey was in attendance to watch the show. The Smoking Popes went on tour with him in the 90’s and I’m sure he wanted to see them again.

The show itself was awesome. They played their new songs and a lot of their older ones while everyone sang along. It was like an old friend came back to visit, but picked up like they had never been gone. I had a great time and I can’t wait until they make it out here again.

Hot Weekend

Last weekend we took an impromptu trip to the desert. 8-8-08 was CJ’s birthday, so we decided to take the day off and do something fun. At first we couldn’t decide what to do. Our friend Bryan said he could get us a nice room at a Westin Resort & Spa in Palm Springs for cheap. That made up our minds for us.

As you can see, it was a nice room with great amenities. We went gambling at casinos and did some shopping at the outlet mall. Unfortunately, we didn’t come back with the jackpot, but it was fun. We had triple digits temperatures while we were there, but it wasn’t too bad sine we were indoors most of the time.

Movie Sunday

After our beach going experience and being out in the sun all day Saturday, we decided to go see Wanted on Sunday.

It's a movie about a guy who is brought into the world of an elite assassin society and is trained to kill the man who killed his father. Of course, nothing is as it seems and there are a few twists in the movie.

It was good. It had a lot of action and stunts that would never happen in real life. Although I liked it, I think it would be better to rent the movie than spend the money in the theater.

Surfin!

On Saturday, we took a trip up the coast to Malibu and Ventura. CJ's cousin, Theresa, had the idea to go to the beach and see the coast to our Nnorth. Theresa is a surfer "in training" while she is out here in California on business.

We first ended up in Malibu. It was crazy busy with tons of people out on a sunny Saturday afternoon. There was no where to park and lots of people on the beach. After a while we decided to head up North, as we heard it is less populated with beach-goers.

We drove about 15 miles North and ended up in Ventura County. It was not as crowded so we decided to stop. As you can see in the picture, Theresa (the one in the middle) is surfing. CJ and I sat on the rocks and took in the beautiful scenery.

Sunday Night Music

On Sunday night we went to see my friend Alana Sweetwater perform at the Hotel Café in Hollywood. Alana is a singer/songwriter who I met at work when she was temping for our office. She is a wonderful singer and a great performer.
About 6 months ago, she moved to New York. She has been playing shows in NY, and came back for this performance to play in front of some record labels.
One of these days she will be famous. She’s one of those people that you can tell, once you meet her, that she is going places in this world.
Good luck, Alana!

The Dark Knight

On Sunday, we went to see The Dark Knight. It was the best Batman movie I’ve ever seen. The movies they made in the 90’s were a joke (although the first two weren’t bad), and the one they made 3 years ago was the best up until now.
Heath Ledger was very good in his role as the Joker. The actors were all very good and the characters were well developed.
Even if you are not a fan of superhero movies, this one had a lot of elements that would appeal to a wide audience. It was more like a mystery/crime drama with a superhero thrown into the mix. If you want to get technical, Batman really isn’t what you think of as a typical superhero (Spiderman, Hulk, etc.) since he has no superpowers. He is more of a detective in a cape :) None the less, it was a good movie. It’s was long at 2 ½ hours, but it is well paced and I wasn’t bored at all.

Post Vegas

Well, I made it back from Vegas on Sunday night, but I've been lazy at updating my blog about the weekend. I got to Vegas on Saturday morning without a lot of traffic. I picked up Keith at the Circus, Circus Hotel and we went to find out how far the Rio Hotel was from our hotel. We saw Penn & Teller (Illusionists/Comedians) at the Rio. We thought about walking there, but decided it was to far too walk.

The show was very funny and their magic was awesome. They used audience participation throughout their show. A couple of times, I thought they were going to stop at us and ask us to help out. They did not. After the show, they both came outside the theater and greeted their audience.

That night we did some gambling and walking around.

Earlier that day we also walked to the Stratosphere to get a view of the Las Vegas area. The tower is 1, 149 feet in the air. You get great views of the area, and in this picture you can see the Vegas strip.

The next day we did a lot of walking. We went from one end of the strip to the other, which is about 4 miles. With temperatures over 100, it seemed liked a lot further.

At the Mirage Hotel, we saw the theater and gift shop for the Beatles/Cirque du Soleil "Love" show.

Here I am in front a cool multi-changing colored wall with the Beatles behind me. When I go back to Vegas, I definitely want to see this show.


This is a picture of the pyramid of the Luxor hotel. It was very cool inside with huge statues and ornate decorations... and of course, a casino.

I left Sunday night and experienced some traffic, but it only added an hour to my drive.

Now I am ready to go back for a couple more days. I will plan that for a cooler month than July!

Vegas, Baby!

I'm on my way to Vegas this Saturday for a quick trip. CJ is in Indiana and I'm meeting a friend to hang out and have some fun.

I'm making the trip by myself, so hopefully my car doesn't break down in the desert. It should be okay, because my vehicle is fairly new.

We are going to see Penn & Teller on Saturday night, so that should be fun.

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July!!! Go America :)

Environment

On Saturday we received these environmentally friendly products in the mail. Our city sent out free Compact Fluorescent Bulbs and bathroom aerators to all of their citizens. I thought it was a good idea to get people exposed to conserving energy and water. I do try to help out the environment when I think of it, so this was a great gift to get in the mail.
We have put one of the bulbs in a lamp and we have the aerator on the bathroom sink.
I suggest everyone try and conserve energy when they can.

Cubs - Saturday

No pictures from Saturday's game. It was a frustrating game and I didn't feel like taking any photos.

The Cubs lost 7-3. At least in this game they scored some runs and actually had a chance to win (until the 7th inning).

It was hot and sweaty, but it was fun as usual.

Cubs - Friday

Not much to say about this one. The Cubs lost 3-0. There are no highlights other than this picture of Dodgers' 2nd baseman, Jeff Kent, getting thrown out of the game. The Cubs struck out 11 times last night and looked as if they were asleep.

Today will be better!

Thursday's Giveaway

This is what I got as I walked into the stadium last night. It's a bobblehead of Dodgers closer, Takasi Saito.

Last night, I used it as a voodoo doll and kicked and punched it a little :) It must have worked, because he gave up the winning run to the Cubs.

Cubs - Thursday

Yesterday was the first Cubs/Dodgers game of the 4 game series. It was a great game and I enjoyed the whole thing.

I went alone to last nights game, becasue CJ is going to Friday night's game. I got there about 90 minutes early because I literally work "right down the road" from Dodgers' Stadium. I was happy to find when I arrived that the Cubs' batting practing was going on (you will see it in the pic above). I then went and got some dinner and found my seat. Luckily, my seat was in a block of other Cubs fans and that was a nice feeling in "hostile" territory. :) Actually, as in all ballparks around the country, there are always lots of Cubs fans.

During the game I talked with a couple brothers who were sitting next to me. It turned out that they are originally from Evansville, IN and now they live in Phoenix and Colorado. So, of course, we talked about Indiana and it was fun to talk to them about the Cubs and the Purdue/ I.U. rivalry.

It was a close game after the fifth inning. The Cubs closer, Kerry Wood, made it an interesting ninth inning by loading the bases with two outs. Luckily, he got the last guy to strike out and the Cubs won 5-4. They still have the best record in all of baseball, and I hope they improve on that tonight!

I can't wait for tonight's game!!!!

Baseball Weekend

I'm excited because the Cubs will be in town to play the Dodgers Thursday-Sunday of this week. It's been a year since the Cubs were in town and I can't wait to go starting on Thursday night. This year I'm going to the first three games(Thursday-Saturday). I'm skipping Sunday's game because it is tiring enough to go three days straight as I have in the two previous seasons.

They are currently riding a 8-game winning streak and I hope they continue to play well once they get to L.A.

It's Back

If you remember in an earlier blog entry, I told you that my favorite reality show is coming back to television. The premier of the show is Monday, June 2 at 10 PM on ABC.

I hope that this new incarnation is just as good as the original. We'll see how they handled the resurrection on Monday night.

Funny

When graffiti is funny...

It originally said, "100% Beef".

Sorry for the fuzzy photo. I had to use the camera on my phone.

I Am...

LOST! Lost had its season finale last night and now I am sad (and a bit tired for staying up late to watch). Season 4 was awesome and I can't believe it is over until February 2009.

So much happened in the 2 hour finale that I am still digesting everything. It will probably be just long enough to figure everything out!

Spotted

I saw Kim Myles at the gas station on Wednesday. Kim won Season 2 of "HGTV's Design Star" and now has her own HGTV show called "Myles of Style".

I like her because she has the Mercury version of my Ford Escape Hybrid :)