San Diego, Saturday, Day 2

The Sheraton on Harbor Island Drive is in a very central location. Downtown San Diego, Sea World, Mission Bay, and the bridge to Coronado Island (backup link) are all less than 15 minutes away to drive. We never really had to rush to be anywhere. After sleeping in a little bit on Saturday, my g/f and I headed over to a nearby Denny’s. It was the best food we ate on the trip so far. Scary. The deli we patronized in Old Town on Friday was simply OK. It was priced too high for being just OK. Friday night, the food at the restaurant at Bahia Hotel was all over cooked. Fortunately, our culinary experience improved later. Sea World When we approached Sea World, it turned out to be a lot smaller than we imagined. When we entered the park grounds, we found that trying to get to the parking lot is like meandering down a class 1 river for 2 miles. It seemed like forever before we ended up at designated parking area. We arrived just before the first Shamu show started, so we headed right over to the stadium, which is near the gate. The Shamu show was the highest quality that I’ve ever seen for an animal show. The three older Killer Whales gave spirited performances. The stunts were plentiful and thrilling. Even “Baby Shamu” performed well. As a bonus, the Splash Zone is huge (the first 16 rows of the audience do get wet). My g/f and I both enjoyed this show a lot. I think she used up a whole roll of film just on the Killer Whales! :) The Dolphin show was also very engaging. Although the stunts aren’t the most impressive I’ve seen for a Dolphin show, the Sea World show was very seasoned. Sea World also has many walk through exhibits. You’ll see Manatees, Beluga Whales, a Polar Bear, many types of fish, Penguins, etc. Sea World displays each of the animals in simulated natural environments. This is prolly great for the animals. I know it is great for the guests because there is nothing quite like walking into the chilly Penguin habitat on a hot muggy day, such as that Saturday. If you come on a hot day, bring your swim trunks/bathing suit, sit in the Splash Zones and get on the wet rides. Sea World is a high quality, clean and well organized theme park that packs a big punch for its small size. Evening For the evening, we had a wonderful dining experience at the Indigo Grill (backup link) in the Little Italy (backup link) part of Downtown San Diego. For the first time, we had a great meal in San Diego. I recommend this establishment. After dinner, we wondered around the Gaslamp Quarter. There are a lot of restaurants, bars, pubs and clubs. Many of the shops are open very late. The Gaslamp Quarter is a large area; so expect to do a lot of walking if you want to see it all. At the end of the night, back in the hotel room, I think we fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

San Diego Day 1

With such an early flight (7:15), I was worried about waking up early enough to make it. Well, my g/f and I did make it...pretty much had perfect timing. Once in San Diego, we got our rental car early, and got our room hella early, 10am. Normally check in is at 3pm. After buying some essentials, we heading down to Old Town for lunch and some exploring. We ate at the one place near old town. Lunch cost use $19 for two sandwiches and a couple of drinks. That would've been ok if the food hadn't sucked.
We then headed down to Coronado Beach. The ocean water is fairly warm. I swam in California waters for the first time in 20 years. It did take me a little while to get used to the water. We had a lot of fun there. We did have a plan to take an evening cruise on a Paddlewheel boat, but dinner took longer than expected, so we missed our chance for Friday. Maybe we will try again this afternoon, after Seaworld.
Back in the 90's, sometimes I visited San Diego a few times a year. It's nice to get back here. This is my g/f's first time. This will be our first time at Seaworld.
___
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San Diego Getaway

September 10, 2004 to September 12, 2004

With Alice Leung, visiting San Diego, CA, including SeaWorld and Gaslamp Quarter.  Original post/backup link.

Political Parties out of balance

The trouble with U.S. politics right now is that the parties are off balance. They are faltering.
The Republican Party was weakened in the early 1990s. This left a power vacuum that the Religious Conservatives (who are normally fundamentalists) and pseudo-Libertarians (gun nuts) filled in the mid-1990s. These groups don’t care about traditional positions of the Republican Party. They have used it to accomplish their own ends. Many of the actions taken by the Republican Party in recent years are in direct conflict with the party’s traditions. (Side note, anyone fundamentalist who believes that second coming of Christ is going to replace the U.S. government shouldn’t be in politics in the first place, since they may misinterpret the bible and decide now is a good time for Armageddon; not to mention other basic problems that I may get into at some other time. I mention this because of the harsh religious tone of the Republican Party right now.)
The Democratic Party was the status quo for much of the 20th Century. They seem lost now that the dynamics of the Republican Party has changed. They are now weakened, similar to the Republican Party of the early 1990’s. Except in the Democrat case, there doesn’t seem to be groups ready to fill their power void. I don’t know if this is a good thing or not. One the one hand, their traditional positions are being held on to. On the other hand, without some sort of fresh blood take over, they will flounder for many years to come.
I hope the Democratic Party can get organized soon. I hope that the Republic Party moves away from realm of religious ideologies. I’m a centralist (not a moderate). I am happiest when the two parties are in balance. When there is a balance, the government is less likely to tell me or any citizen how to live our lives.

Labor Day Weekend

Sunday’s BBQ went well. My friends Miriam and her 4 year-old daughter, Dave and his girlfriend, my roommate, and my g/f all showed. I’m glad we all had a good and relaxing time. As a bonus, the park was less crowded than I had estimated. And of course, we ended up with too much food.
Side note, my big toe was still bothering me on Monday, so I didn’t get to go sailing on the Spitfire. Instead I spent Monday afternoon playing Civilization III.

Week Report and BBQ at the Park

I'm hosting a BBQ at a park around the block from my place, this Sunday. I will claim our spot pretty early, and expect my friends to show up around 1:00pm.

Tonight, I'm going to hang out with Miriam. Maybe watch a DVD.

Yesterday, I was really missing my g/f, so I called her up and asked her to come over. Maybe it's a booty call, but hey, she's entitled. lol I love that girl.

My friend Jane is feeling down and isn't eating that well right now. She gets like that from time to time, so I dragged her out to Jamba Juice Weds afternoon after work. For some odd reason, she doesn't count Jamba Juice as eating. Loop-holes are great! :) Anyways, after I made sure she drank her juice, I sent her on her way. Eat, Damnit!

Ronie is getting married. I got to hear all about it on the phone yesterday afternoon. Mind you, the wedding is in 2006 or something like that. :) Anyways, she's hoping to narrow down the guess list to 200 invites (like 500 people). Ouch. That reminds me, I gots to sent her updated contact info for Miriam. Laterz

Woohoo! 

Giants Tickets

I'm giving up a chance to get great seats to tomorrow night's Giants game because I've already planned to spend the evening hanging out with my friend. I'm taking my Dad to a Giants game in a couple of weeks, otherwise I might have taken the offer for the free tickets tomorrow.

Dinner with her folks

Had a pleasant dinner last evening with g/f's parents out the Outback for her mom's b/d.

Another Thursday night

Last Thursday was a lot of fun. I went out to downtown San Jose with Jenn and Reba. We had intended to go to The Gl?. However, we got distracted and ended up at Zoë. I was surprised how big Zoë is on the inside. I remember the old place at that location being about 1/3 of that size. It has three dance floors, and open patio and a sizeable lounge area. There was aso billards, but this isn’t the kind of place I’d come to play billards. Later, we ended up at the Agenda. We had a good time. (Just a note: the DJ sucked that night.) Later, Nick and his buddy showed up, plus some more of Jenn’s friends. Cuz of all the dancing, Jenn’s back was a bit sore at the end of the evening. Other than that, I believe we all had a great time.

Napoleon Dynamite and Garden State

Napoleon Dynamite is a good film. It’s actually funny. It has a lot of sight gags, developed jokes and deadpan humor. I’m not going into details because surprise is important to how much you enjoy the film. Also, the film’s quirky style is funny on its own. In many of the scenes, the characters would walk onto the scene and land right on their mark, then convincingly recite their lines, then walk off the scene. Funny stuff. This one will appear in my DVD collection.

Garden State is a depressed romantic comedy. It has some sight gags, developed jokes and deadpan humor. But the movie’s pace is slow, and is almost (but not quite) tedious. The joke payoffs weren’t enjoyable enough to justify the pace. Additionally, when the big horrific character reveal occurred, I found myself not really caring. However, the acting is good, but then again, how hard is it really to look constantly annoyed? Anyways, the movie could have been more enjoyable if it had a big punch. More detail about the father (and less emphasis on the best friend) would’ve helped. It was a mildly entertaining film. Not DVD collection worth.

AT&T Long Distance Fraud Policy of Shame

I do not have any long distance company on my home phone. I can get long distance coverage for free (in the months I don’t use it), but I do not want it. I came to this conclusion last year when I finally understood long distance carrier policies regarding fraud, such as the one from AT&T Long Distance. AT&T Long Distance holds the account holder responsible for fraudulent charges on their account. In other words, if someone steals your information and starts using your account from a remote location, AT&T expects YOU to pay the bill, regardless. So, to avoid this problem, I simply do not have long distance on my home phone. Guess what! I get FREE long distance from my Sprint PCS phone anyway. So, why take the risk?
Some telemarketers have suggested that I need a long distance carrier for emergencies. In the extremely odd event I can’t use my cell phone in an emergency, I can always just dial one of the 10-10 numbers (like 10-10-220 [collect] or 10-10-345 [direct]).
In the 21st century, landline long distance from the home is a completely unnecessary risk, especially with ridiculous fraud policies by the long distance carriers.

San Diego

My g/f and I were finally able to finalize plans for a mini-trip to San Diego next month. It will be great to get away with her, somewhere, anywhere. We get to spend quality time during each week, but it's just nice being able to get away on a trip. We will prolly hit up some points of interest. Sea World is on the list; Gaslamp district and Old Town too, for some chill times. yippie!
I miss San Diego. I used to end up there (one way or another) once every few months. I haven't been back in over 5 years.

Last Thursday

Last Thursday was a lot of fun. Miriam was her ol' self again, at least for one night. Miriam, a friend (I'll call Nick) and I met up with another friend (code name Enga). We started out by getting to Music In The Park (San Jose, CA) just in time to see Three Days Grace?s full set. They played the favorites, plus. It was a quick set though...ended after just 30 minutes. It was free, so no complaints. :)
We had dinner on the patio of a near by restaurant. We had a great time eating, dining and chatting. After dinner, we walked around to try to find a club or two. We couldn't find the one we were looking for, and our back-up choice had just closed down. :( As we are walking around the closed club, I hear music pumping from somewhere down the street. So, I start to follow it and we end up at this one ghetto place. It had just opened that week. Even though Enga, Nick and Miriam are all in flip-flops, they let us in (with $5.00 cover). It was pretty damn empty.
Didn?t matter to us. I was DD, so I was just drinking cokes. Everyone else was just drinking. We played some pool. We did some dancing. Nick and Enga did some makin? out. When the club closed, I drove Miriam to her place and dropped her off. Nick went home with Enga. ::wink wink:: ::nudge nudge::
Goodnight. :)

PLEEAASSE!

I guess it's a temp receptionist paging people right now here at work. She's all, "Joe Blow, PLLLLEEEAASSE call the operator. THANK YOU. Again, Joe Blow, pleease call the operator. Thank you." Twice now...two different people. lol PLLEEEAAASSE!

looking thangs over

The battery to my Treo 600 crapped out. It would be nice if PalmOne made the Treos with a detechable battery. It's such a great product in functionality, but it misses some of the phonelike details. My phone is still under warranty, so it's not going to cost me anything to get a replacement. Yah, me. But what happens next year if the next phone's battery goes bad? hmm
I still love my Treo 600. Just now, I'm going to love my new one. lol

Proof that Girls are Evil

The secret is out! LOL

Friend's broken back. :(

Jenn and I are pretty good friends. (Jenn is not her real name. With rare exception, I will not use real names for people I know. For example, I simply refer to my girlfriend as g/f.) Jenn and I were actually introduced through another friend. He has a company that does work for the company I work at, and also the company Jenn used to work at. One day, he suggested I meet up with her. I already have my g/f, so I made it clear to him that we’d meet to be friends only, and that’s just what we became. She’s a lot of fun to hang out with. Once in awhile, we go clubbin’. She works in downtown Palo Alto these days, so sometimes we just have lunch in some of its fine restaurants.
It sucks that she recently broke her back by falling onto a curb. She’s been a homebody since, with little exception. Hopefully she heals up quick. It’s been about two months already. She's back to work and all, and seems better, but still in pain. :( So, I’m sending her healing thoughts now. Today’s blog entry is dedicated to her. Best wishes, girl!

Where I live, who I know, where I work

I was using the Internet for meeting people and dating all the way back in 1998. Yeah, I did cybersex, phonesex, and real sex all based around the Internet. It’s ironic that I now shun using the Internet for that purpose now that it is very popular. Maybe that’s not so iconic. Maybe what’s more ironic is that the Internet in some way enabled just about every aspect of my life. I met my best friend Dave through I job that I got by posting my resume on the Internet. I met a close friend Ronie on the Internet. I met my best friend Miriam through Ronie. Most of the girls I’ve ever had slept with were from the Internet. All but one of my girlfriends has been from the Internet, and there is an Internet connection to that one other g/f too. My current job is from posting my resume on the Internet. The house where I live was found through a posting on the Internet. I thoroughly researched cars on the Internet before buying mine; the purchase itself was at a local dealership. Where I live, who I know, where I work…all from the Internet.

My Life - Part 3: Teething

As an infant, I realized that my father didn’t have a fingernail on his right index finger. I found this out because he would use that finger to feel around in my mouth in an attempt to discover if my teeth had started appearing. When I was older, he told me that his finger was lopped off in an accident when he was a kid. Even though the tip of his finger was reattached, the fingernail was lost. Of course, the missing fingernail gave his finger the appearance that the tip was never reattached.
So, my dad would stick that index finger in my mouth to feel for teeth. I really didn’t like it, but there wasn’t much I could do about it, being and infant and all. I still remember the rough and ridgy feeling of his short index finger rubber against my gums, tongue and the roof of my mouth. Yuk. So this one day, my parents were over me. My mother was telling my day, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to stick your finger in his mouth. He’s gonna bite cha,” or something along those lines. Yes, even as an infant I understood the meaning of her words. He sticks his finger in my mouth. I waited for the right moment to finally use my new teeth. For a split-second, hesitated out of conscience. Suddenly I bit as hard as I could! He howled in pain and he yanked his finger away. I remember enjoying my deed, and actually feeling a little proud at my plot’s success. My mom was I-told-you-so’ing as he went to nurse his finger.

I, Robot

It's been a long time since I've read I, Robot. In fact, I was in school. The stories didn't much interest me. Although I admired Isaac Asimov (the writer) for is contributions to literature and science (fiction), I always felt his writing style was too dry.
It's been a couple days since I've seen the movie I, Robot. It uses the original book as a setting, but not as the source of the story. This movie is good, so I'm not sure what movie the critics had been watching. It's not great, for sure. It does have one big plot hole. The movie implies the events were happening everywhere, yet only shows the events as they unfold in Chicago. Beyond that one problem, the story was pretty clean, blending action well with plot, storytelling and character development. Basically, this is an action movie with some intelligence.
Recommended.

very Very brief complaint about comparing Superman to Spider-man movies

I'm not sure what lunatic can say the Superman movies a superior to the Spider-man movies.  The Superman movies were deliberately campy and one-dimensional.  Spider-man makes a determined and successful effort to develop characters with depth and complexity.  The two sets of movies are in different classes. 
If special effects of Superman were put on par to the 2000's, then a modern equivalent to Superman would be X-Men, as both have average special effects for their time, and both are plot driven stories of similar depth. 
IMO, the Spider-man movies are easily the best comic book movies ever made.  They have excellent production quality, good to great acting, awesome action, well developed characters (the ones we care about), etc.  It's a refreshing reminder that movies (even an action-flicks) shouldn't be non-stop action when handling characters that the audience cares about; and that a balance can be reached between plot and character development. 
Superman, X-Men, first couple Bat Man movies are a tier lower.  They are still great movies, but they do lack the story telling of the Spider-man series.  Just watch the first two Superman movies again.  Although they have similar plots to Spider-man, they are pretty flat when held up to the two Spider-man movies.

"Bring me back something French!"

What is the origin of the line "bring me back something french"?  The line was used in `Home Alone`.  I heard it in a British sitcom from the late 70's called `Are You Being Served`, and in a couple of films since.  I have the impression it is a reference to an older film or book, but don't know where to look.   This is one of those rare cases where the Internet doesn't help.  Anyone have any idea?

Reviewing the Movie Reviewers

One thang I’ve been noticing about movie reviewers in widely distributed periodicals is that they happily show-off what little they happen to know.  The most recent example of this is the review by J.M. in the Wall Street Journal.  He reviewed the Borne Supremacy.  He starts off with glowing statements about the movie.  Then he starts comparing it to the director’s previous movie, Bloody Sunday.  Bloody Sunday is a political film about how British Soldiers started shooting N. Irelanders.  So, J.M. compares a political docu-drama with a big budget action flick, simply because both are directed by the same person.  Huh?  So, I’m guessing that J.M. did see that little non-Hollywood film?  Or maybe he did just five minutes of research on the internet, found some reviews that said it was good and then decided to make his review another big-budget-soul-movies-have-no-soul article.  Is something wrong with a film just because it has a high budget and is from Hollywood?  Review the damn movie you are talking about, J.M.!  If you must compare, then pick movies from the same genre, and compare apples to apples. 

I can just imagine if J.M. was around when 2001: A Space Odyssey came out.  J.M. might say something like “Although this is a wonderful, technically accurate film, I find it is missing the creepiness Kubrick so cleverly weaved into the classic Lolita.  This is what happens when talent like Kubrick gets a big Hollywood budget.  I sure wish they made more movies about perverts instead of science fiction.  Kubrick has failed his fans.”  I just have one thang to say to you, J.M, “Get real.”

Here's the truck after it rolled off the overpass and into the freeway exit.   Maybe the fire burned through the brake lines, sending this huge truck rolling off the road and through the trees and brush.  My coworkers had just finished passing through this exit when the truck started falling behind them.
Copyright © 2004 Matthew Lorono