flush...

that's the sound of $40 being sent down the toilet for speeding on 6th avenue this afternoon...damn. wish i could talk to the camera toting van.

"...but i ALWAYS speed on that stretch of 6th ave."

sigh

usually, i'm good about seeing those blue signs that warn of the vans in use. they come up a block or two before you get popped. oh well, this will make up for the time i was busted in a school zone about three years ago. i never got a ticket for that. and THAT ticket should have been $80! mebbe i shouldn't be too happy though. with my luck, i'll get both in the mail sometime this summer. wouldn't that be grand...

other than the happy foot, we went to see a sneak at the Esquire. it was for this movie. you gotta go see it when it comes out next month. i knew electric cars were being produced in the 90's...but had no idea how efficient they truly were. i just thought that the technology hadn't been perfected, thus allowing the burgeoning market for hybrids. after finding out that electric cars had been killed by the same california mandate that had created them, you could sense outrage in the theater. sure, electric cars only had an initial range of 60-115 miles per charge, but how many people drive more than that a day? pretty rare for me...

with gas prices hovering around $2.70 in town, we had already been trying to go out less. and after seeing this movie, with fingers pointing towards gov't/car maker conspiracy, we're gonna walk more. if we want to go out, there's plenty of places to eat within a mile from here. argh. trust me, you'll feel the same too once you see this awesome documentary.

ever since we saw the Toyota Prius at the Texas State Fair in 2000, we had already been considering buying a hybrid. the new honda civic hybrids showcased at the denver auto show tested at 50 mpg in the city, but there are some detractors. i guess there are hybrid owners who refute that claim, recording figures anywhere from 35-47 mpg. perhaps it's something to be taken with a grain of salt on both sides. still, you have to admit that 35 mpg in the city ain't so bad. when we drove to texas, we had varying numbers. on two occasions, our little honda civic averaged more than 45 mpg (highway). in fact, when we drove from salina, KS to burlington, CO...we averaged 53 mpg. and that was with the A/C on! i just remember not hitting the gas nor brakes more than a couple times, which really helped the cruise control. we were totally stunned!

anyway, get to the site and check it out. there's some really intriguing facts and numbers. i don't think that electric cars weren't for everyone, but it was definitely a good option for a second car. after all, if many families have 2+ cars, why not have one for short trips...and not use any gas?

i know that bias is always an issue when it comes to debate; everyone has a personal interest when money is involved. i truly believe there is some truth to auto industry conspiracy. one of my friends worked at ford for many years and told me that for every $35,000 SUV, a $30,000 profit was made. recently, i heard that there was a smart car dealership in Elizabeth. i think i may have blogged a bit about the smart car during/after our trip to spain in 2004. anyway, these little buggers are pretty cool.


small (like 8' long), gas sipping (60 mpg), and manueverable (the wheels actually turn 90 degrees so you don't have to parallel park)...and they're around 8000 euros ($10,000) in europe. sooooo, WHY is this dealership in colorado taking orders for these cars and selling them for $27,000!!!!!



wotdafuk?!? there's definitely a smoking gun of conspiracy...




at least there are some viable options...hybrids...smart cars...and mebbe this one in the future. it's the prius (it's going to be a plug in) that toyota wants to put out by 2008. and they're hoping to revamp the efficiency to 113 mpg!!! now, THAT would be cool!

new...

i've added a couple new links on the sidebar. under blogs, you'll find the occasional journal of our friend, Helena. she and her husband just moved to Argentina last year. they've semi-retired on a vineyard/orchard in the Mendoza wine growing region of western Argentina, near a town called San Rafael.



Helena, who is Dutch, was a medical anthropologist, mainly specializing in geriatrics. her husband, Arn, was a music teacher for Boulder Public Schools for many years. they are just the coolest people to have around. nothing like conversationalists with a razor sharp sense of humor. when they lived here, we tried to get together (with our little anthro group of 8) a couple times during the summer. we really miss them. visiting them up in Longmont was one thing...at least it was 5500 miles closer ;) BUT it's definitely another good excuse to go back to South America!

if you want to read about starting a new life in a rural area of a foreign country, i recommend that you check out the site; there are some really amusing stories. you'd really like her style of writing - pure storytelling.

under links, i replaced Dog Eat Doug with Lío, a really cute comic strip about a kid with a great imagination. this is a strip from a few days ago...i like the way he thinks!



it has been a super morning! made omelets (w/ cheese, bacon, yellow pepper, green onion, mushrooms, and tomatoes) and had them out on the front porch in the cool breeze. even though there's still no escaping 6th ave. traffic, the porch faces east and is a perfect place to have either breakfast or a beer/wine in the evening, after the sun has set. and with little traffic on a sunday morning, it was an idyllic setting...

life is SO good!

it is...

this man's 78th birthday today.

he's the author of this book and many others...



what's his name? did you grow up reading this children's masterpiece? there's no prize, especially for Cindi because i KNOW she has used this book in her curriculum...

the letdown...

don't you hate it when you think you've gotten a great buy on something and then find out later it wasn't so great? last sunday, i went to a book signing at the Denver Book Mall in moral support of my friend. unfortunately, to his chagrin, i didn't buy any of his books; i'm not a sci-fi fan. remember, this was for 'moral' support ;)

anyway, i did pick up a great coffee table book written by a famous mexican anthropologist, Ignacio Bernal. it was hiding on a top shelf, gazing down upon the throngs of people who peruse the books on a daily basis. i think it had been waiting for me...

it's a an out of print book entitled, "100 Great Masterpieces of the Mexican National Museum of Anthropology" (aka, INAH...whom i worked for in 1993). for $14.95, it was a steal. the dust jacked is in pristine condition and there are no stains, dents, nor tears. an excellent chance to see some of the artifacts that were displayed at the national museum in 1969, many of which are no longer on display.

wow...$14.95. i think it was marked down from $35!

well, today, i was going to erase the price that was penciled in on the second page, only to find out that the real price was $12!!! heeHAW. the $14.95 price (written in ink) was probably what the seller BOUGHT it for. it was surreal because i could have sworn i saw the $14.95 in pencil. hmmm.

oh well. three bucks is not that big of a deal, considering the book is worth way more than the price. that is, until i got the bright idea to see how much i could find it for online.

dumb idea

yeah, there are at least a dozen copies of the book for less than $10, even a few between $5-$6. sigh. still, i don't know if all those copies are in the excellent condition of my copy - nearly pristine.

so...i'll stop bitching about a few dollars and will just read the damn thing...with a cuppa coffee...that i'll spill ALL over it! yeah...

streamin...

been listening to pandora.com the past week. it's nice. you type in a group/song name and it comes up with songs of the genre. although it may be a bit of a broad spectrum, the songs are usually pretty good. basically, you're constructing a custom radio station. if you don't like a song, you can say so and the next song in a queue will play. if you do like the song, you indicate it and it's memorized. if there's a song that has been played ad nauseam, you can tell the station to not play it for a month. and if that isn't enough, you can insert the names of groups/songs that you like to narrow/broaden the selections.

go try it out!

lois is watching the rest of Capote, which we rented from McD's last night. ever since we got back from texas, we've been nothing short of lazy bums. the 2000+ mile drive exacerbated a lower back problem that has plagued lois since '99, when she broke a vertebra after falling off a ladder in mexico, while we helped paint an orphanage.

so...i think the next couple of weeks are going to be spent at the chiropractor and in bed, with an armload of vids. the next two movies on our nettflix list are the remake of Bewitchedd and (since we're in the TrumanCapote vein) In Cold Blood.

movie's just about over...time to get it back to ronald's ;) and then off to Soopers for some peaches, spinach, and strawberries. gotta hit those produce sales!

such a nice, warm night...what are you all doing?

oh yeah, cindi did request a '6 weird things' meme. don't fret, i'm still working on it. all the quirks i have have to be narrowed down. can i make it 60 instead?

sigh...

and america wonders why 60% of its population is overweight. i'm in that population as well...so this posting is tongue firmly planted in cheek.

look what they're selling in the minor league ballpark in Sauget, IL.



yep, that's a bacon cheeseburger sandwiched in a KrispyKreme glazed doughnut. we're talking 10 grams of sugar and 1000 calories.

looks tasty though. and although CBS News touts it as America's unhealthiest burger, i beg to differ. the REAL heartstopper is Carl Jr's Double Six Dollar Burger. yes sir!

we're talking about 1420 calories...101 grams of fat (150% of daily allowance)...44 g. saturated fat (220%) and 245 mg. of cholesterol (82%). mmmboy, i can hear those defibrillators crackling right now ;) you know, people can survive gunshot wounds, but how many could endure eating two of these in one sitting? heh

#476...

that's the number of this posting...which might actually be a long one. i've been so lazy in posting over the past couple weeks that it has become a virulent trend. i wanna read everyone else's blog but watch my own fester in a pool of putrid stagnancy.

you know the feeling...but maybe not to such a great extent ;)

if you recall, we went to central texas twelve days ago. the car trip was roughly 2145 miles roundtrip. we spent a night in a hotel en route, each way.

usually, if we're driving to coleman, we tough it out and drive to abilene, a twelve hour drive (non-stop)...and spend a night there. however, our eye afflictions beg us limit the hours behind the wheel. so...we spent the night in lubbock instead.

HUGE








FREAKIN'










MISTAKE








we were foolish enough to spend it in the Econolodge on the south side of town. note that when you're staying there, you put the emphasis on 'CON' because that's how we felt.

the above photos from this dump's website were completely deceiving. the shabby carpeting looked like it had been installed by a one eyed quadruplegic with a malfunctioning wheelchair (no offense to any physically challenged individual who may fit this description). really though, part of it was on the wall...while some floorspace lacked it completely.

just plain bizarre...

i think the owner also contracted this person to paint the paper-thin doors, for they lacked a complete single coating, much of which was peeling anyway. i'm surprised that the doors even stayed intact, they epitomized spontaneous disintegration.

the interior appearance wasn't the only beef we had though. the outside grounds were kind of atrocious as well. the parking lot was ridden with potholes that were lying in wait to swallow entire vehicles that dared to tread upon its ghastly wasteland. the soda stained sidewalk around the property was a playground of euphoric stickiness. i swear i saw prolific anthills the size of semi-trucks. you could easily lose a shoe, luggage, or even small children if you weren't careful in setting something down.

usually, a place like this might be equated with a fantasyland for drug dealing. well, i think the pushers have more sense than this; it might be bad for business.

the most laughable aspect about the hotel was its simply pitiful towels. not only were they few (two washcloths and two 'bath' towels), they were miniature sized (the bath towels could have doubled as king size pillowcases and the washcloths were easily cocktail napkins in a past life) and were the antithesis of absorbency. why bother? we could just use the bedsheets, which were shockingly free of stains and/or pubic hairs! wotta plus...

you know, i can't complain because we've actually stayed in (just barely) worse places in mexico and bolivia...but for a lot less! those places were $3-$7 a night...not $50. yeah, we paid that much.

you ask, why did you stay? for the beds and the dog. we got into town tired, hot, and cranky. we mainly stayed because the beds were (surprisingly) good and the fact that pets were allowed. we could put up with all of the shortcomings for one night.

besides, if we had stayed in a better place, i wouldn't have blog fodder and my five dedicated readers would have had two more minutes of time on their hands.

so now you know...

whoops...

here's the link that i neglected to include on the last post. really though, the story after mine should've been the winner!

got picked...

but not for the big prize.

sigh.

remember when i posted (see 3/31) our story of saving a cow in bolivia? i had submitted a story to budget travel to be considered for a free trip to tahiti. well, we didn't win but the story did end up in this month's issue.



frankly, i think that the winning entrant's story is not as cool as ours. in fact, the story below ours is probably the best one LOL

oh well, we've got a couple others that we can submit. who knows what they're gonna offer in the future...we may get lucky the second time. i wonder if sending stories in consecutive months will hurt our chances...

looks like our fifteen minutes is just about up

beep*

smohenitg to tnihk aobut...

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.

The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

harder to justify...

i'm glad that cirquedusoleil usually hits denver with a different show every two years. we've been fortunate to see three or four productions in the last 6 years. and i just got an email today for pre-sale tix for the new show, which opens here at the end of august. it looks cool...strange...even wondrous. so much like their other shows...with the exception of price.

THE DAMN TIX FOR THIS SHOW RANGE FROM $88 to $147...wotdafuk?!?

i think we'll say no thanks this time...

it's gonna be...

hothothot

we're leaving on Thursday...and we're drivin'...with the monster dog even (adorable but eee-vil). didn't you know that sophie is the name for anti-christ in terrier-ese? specifically for those that are jack russell/miniature poodle mixes.


but it's gonna be fun. we're attending the 60th wedding anniversary of a lady who could pretty much be lois' second mother; lois grew up really poor and this lady kept her clothed as a child. it's hard to fathom a couple being able to stand each other for that long, eh? i guess it's not that uncommon though. after all, my parents will be celebrating their 59th in august...that means we should start thinking of things now. mebbe i'll get some ideas when we're down there...hmmm.


since we're goin' for ten days...with the car...and a psychodog, we'll probably spend a week visiting lois' brothers and sisters in the dallas area. i may even drop in on a friend with whom i just reconnected after eighteen years (via myspace). he and i were good friends in high school. we used to sit next to each other in Honors Thesis and dream up elaborate pranks to play on our favorite teacher Miss A.

hopefully, i'll be able to surprise him at his workplace. a couple months ago, i had mentioned (to him) that we'd be in texas in may, but i'm hoping he'll forget. i've contacted one of his co-workers and we're plotting things already ;) it's a shame that i don't have any damning pictures of him...i need some yearbook dirt dammit!!!

been reading...

this blog. i had no idea about the trek until i glanced at it in passing while on yawho. wow! this man has walked from Escondido, CA to NYC...a journey of nearly 2900 miles...in thirteen months!!!

it really is an inspiring story. at the outset of the walk, this man had weighed around 400 lbs. and over the course of the year, he has lost more than 100 lbs. and resurrected his self-confidence/esteem. although i've only read the first three months of posts, i do know that he has just completed it and will be on the TodayShow tomorrow morning. i'm intrigued to catch the interview...

that's what does it for me - the human condition. i'm not one for sappiness or perpetual happy endings, but just honesty and the daily happenings in our lives. i guess it's the mutual struggle that we all endure on a daily basis. after all, aren't we all wallowing in the same shit ;) some deeper than others i suppose...

da toe...

is better. surprisingly, the flexibility hasn't been hampered much but the swelling (cindi, i use edema because it's fewer letters to type LOL) is still prevalent between the first and second toes; they still don't touch. i had it wrapped and poulticed by my acupuncturist's husband, who's an orthopedic surgeon by trade.

after the second 'helping', i asked dr. cao how many ingredients he mixed for the salve. he told me that his secret mixture is comprised of fourteen herbs.

hah

my big toe now belongs to the colonel...



i think i prefer an original big toe over a crispy one!!!

well...

i just got tix to this show at red rocks in august. they haven't toured since the mid-seventies but they're gearing up for a reunion tour. can you say $$$$? ah well. at least the tix aren't outrageously priced like a stones tour (which would never be worth it) or the upcoming CSN&Y tour (best tix are like $250).

wtf???

careful what you type. i accidentally transposed the letters p and s in my blogspot url and got this

i think the same goes for anyone else. weird huh?

so watch those happy fingers ;)

just me...

and a cuppa coffee. we just finished dinner, which involved all kinds of chopping and seasoning.

had pork chops seasoned with some jerk seasoning, adobo, and cumin. topped it off with a salsa that i make with hot chiles (habanero or serrano), red onion, lime juice, mango, and pineapple. usually, it has cilantro, but we had to skip it this time and used pineapple instead. this was the majority of the mincing and chopping. nothing like fresh pineapple...unfortunately, that involves soaking it in a bit of salt water and skinning the damn thing.

why soak a whole pineapple in salt water? ever cut up one and try to eat it? makes yer mouth itch and lips bleed (if they're chapped)... soaking it in a slightly briny water for 15-30 minutes negates all those evil enzymes. really! learned it from my dad and uncle joe when i was a kid.

anyway, had leftover rice that i added lime zest...and some canned black beans with lime and jalapeño. opened a bottle of riesling (good with spicy food) and sat down to feast.

lois is flipping around the channels to find something on the tube. think i'll join her...mebbe we'll pop in this movie or that one. just got 'em from netflixx yesterday.

hope you're all staying outta trouble...or at least not getting caught ;)

argh...

played ball on sunday. nothing great, but got some cobwebs out. some soreness for a couple days...

played ball yesterday...things were coming along. my passing was straightening out...my spikes were getting harder...i jammed the fuck outta my toe...DAMMIT!



wasn't this big toe...



nor this one...


must be this one then. luckily, the picture isn't of my foot (my feet ain't ugly nor hairy)...but you get the idea.

yes, i sprained my big right toe coming down off a block. it's surreal for me because in the 19 years i've played v-ball, i've only sprained my toes only once or twice. usually, it means icing and soaking...and still playing, but not barefoot for awhile.

i may be out of commission for a month from the looks of this one though. the edema is pretty pronounced around the metatarsal. and since this is the toe that swelled up in a goutlike way last year, around the time of my uveitis diagnosis, who knows how long it's gonna be; it never felt "normal" even after the swelling subsided at the beginning of this year.

doublefukkinargh!

btw, the seemingly out of place photos are brought up if you do a yahooo image search on big toe. apparently, that's the guitarist of big toe and there's a japanese body builder (who's doing some 'roids) named big toe.

funny...

simplifying...

ugh. it had to be done. after keeping assorted spices for YEARS...like 40 kinds, we just chucked at least half of 'em. alum...mace...thyme...coriander...cardamom...rosemary...celery seed...galanga (thai ginger)...tarragon...ground mustard...cinnamon...onion powder...marjoram...dill...poultry seasoning...sage...allspice...anise...sesame...oregano...you name it.

GONE

i wonder how much money was spent on all of this...coulda bought a tank of gas probably!

ah well. good riddance. now i have nothing to season dinner with. how does a boiled chicken sound heh. surprisingly, i was raised on boiled chicken...great on white rice and dipped in soy or oyster sauce. mmmm...

interesting...

looks like we're certainly not paying the $3.12 average for a gallon of gas (i heard there was a place in BeverlyHills that was charging $4.05 for premium - bastards), but we're paying more than the cheapest gas, which is in central wyoming - $2.45

GAS TEMPERATURE MAP

got anything else to do this cold night?

i don't think so...

joined my friend, barb, for another season of 4-man volleyball at wash park...that was supposed to start today.

right.

although i'm itching to get back into it, there's no way i'm going out in 40 degree weather on wet grass to play. of course, the league, being of decent rationale, cancelled.



duh!



mebbe the weekend will shape up enough for me to find a game on sunday. that is, if i make plans to leave the house ;)

too many errands...

and all i want to do is laze around...read blogs...watch movies (we've been watching 'The Burning Season')...and play with the dogs. yes, that's plural. we got a terror (um, terrier) mix from maxfund a couple weeks ago. she's lovey-lovey, but is as inquisitive as a three month-old puppy. her name is sophie and is two years old. annie, who's thirteen and a half, taunts her to no end. ah well, i guess that's what old dogs do...

well, hope you're having a great saturday! get out there...it's supposed to be 81 degrees today!

sumpin' to do...

pretty accurate, i'd say...howzabout the rest of you?

Your Birthdate: June 15

You take life as it is, and you find happiness in a variety of things. You tend to be close to family and friends. But it's hard to get into your inner circle. Making the little things wonderful is important to you, and you probably have an inviting home. You seek harmony with others, but occasionally you have a very stubborn streak. Your strength: Your intense optimism Your weakness: You shy away from exploring your talents Your power color: Jade Your power symbol: Flower Your power month: June

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

really lazy...

lois should be getting back from the acupuncturist soon. it had been awhile since she saw her last. probably a couple months.

anyway, i think i mentioned that after those four surgeries, her eye is obviously stressed and is now conking out peripherally. she's on drops to alleviate pressure inside the eye. this is the other end of the spectrum to what i was experiencing. my eye pressure was 6-7 and hers was 24; we both need something in between :)

so...leave it to some well placed needles to help us along. my eye pressure is okay now. i just would commit felonious crime to get the floater and haze to go away.

gahhhh

speaking of fat...

we renewed our memberships to Bally's. it only took us years. i think we let them lapse in the late 90's...and every jan/feb. you can count on them sending a renewal offer for $99 a year (for up to three years) or $65 a year (but limited to twice a week).

guess which one we decided to take?

yep. we're not even sure if we'll get our chunky asses to the gym even once a week ;) but just having a new membership (rarin' to go), makes you feel better.

right?

what's even more sad is that our chiropractor 's office is JUST across the hall from the gym.

help me think of some surly excuses!

man, all this brainless typing makes me want to save that lonely chocolate pudding cup from the fridge...

poopity...

that's what the backyard is. aside from terrier poop, we have an assortment of various avian droppings as well as squirrel dung.

why?

because we feed damn near all the critters in the neighborhood. if it wasn't for our day old bread, seed, occasional peanuts, and water bowls, you'd see birds that could actually fly and squirrels who don't drive nut Hummers.

they got it so good...

here it is...

this is the story i submitted to budget travel for this month's free trip (to Tahiti!) contest. although it's a bit condensed, you still get the gist of it. trust me, it was hard to keep it under 250 words ;) i think it clocks in at 236...

In September 2001, during a trip down the Yacuma River in the Bolivian pampas, we encountered some real adventure. What should have been an ordinary day of viewing wildlife, turned into an exotic animal rescue. We were walking along a nearly dry creek bed when we noticed a hump in the distance. It was a Cebu cow that had become stuck neck high in the mud. One of our guides, Adalid, turned to us and said, “Qué la salvemos,” or “Let’s save her.




As we set out to gather sturdy vines, our Israeli friend, Yagi, quipped, “In the kibbutz, we usually use tractors to get our cows out of the mud.” We all laughed and agreed that we were going to be the tractor.






Moments later, with our makeshift ropes secure, the seven of us pulled vines, tugged the poor cow’s ears and head, and scooped mud.








One vine eventually splintered, catapulting some of us into the muck.





The cow, completely confused by these crazy people yanking on her, started to protest. We wouldn’t hear of it though. And after another ten minutes of frantic tugging and scooping, we were finally able to dislodge her. Exhausted, the Cebu laid there for a couple minutes and contemplated her next move, before rising and (consequently) charging us! Satisfied, she then darted into the woods to nourish her emaciated body. So much for our ‘good deed’ of the day!

they went...

i forgot to mention that friday night, my mother and sister attended a taping of it. i had no idea that pat and vanna film a whole season of shows in 39 days. must be hectic...but nice to get it all done in a couple months.

it's funny. my mother had mentioned to me a month ago that she wanted to get some tix to the taping...and that it was my job to get it. "It would make me so happy," she said. sure sounded like an obligation (or threat) to me. i didn't mind that it was an obligation. the only threat though, was that i might have to attend the taping with her. THAT was giving me the creeps. it's one thing to watch game shows, but another to actually be in the audience of one. i just don't find that very appealing.

at first, i found out that all the allotted tix that channel 7 had were totally gone and that we had to send a S.A.S.E. to california for a 'random' drawing. if there were a total of 20,000 tickets available, i shudder to think that the demand would be greater than that ;) surprisingly, four tix came in the mail a week ago and it was a go. and luckily, my sister took my mom and gave the other pair (of tix) to a co-worker. therefore, my primary job friday night was to hang out with dad and slowly veg in front of the tube w/ movies like 'Cadillac Man' and 'The Pledge'.

my new toy...

we were out today after lois' chiropractor appt. and i decided to get this for my car. i'm not sure if i blogged about it, but last september, a day before we got back from mexico, some asshat broke into my car and sister's. got away w/ our stereos. i was lucky...even though mine was worth more, they didn't bash in my dash (one good thing about not having an alarm) like hers.

initially, lois had gotten me a BestBUY gift card for another stereo for our anniversary (in november). so we headed there first...

after almost a half hour of looking and button pushing, i had narrowed it down to three models. still, i wasn't completely satisfied and headed over to ultimate (aka, soundtrack), where i had purchased the swiped one.



had a much better salesperson...but similar results. they were in the middle of upgrading their display and had nothing wired to speakers. um...big problem. it'd be nice to hear the dang unit. YA THINK?!?

ended up going to QualityAutoSound, which used to be a Denny's that i had frequented for at least 25 years. too weird to walk in and see all the car audio stuff. anyway, we headed over to this place while we waited for the install. not the cheapest place, but really good food and a super cool owner.

an adjustment...a new stereo...a couple italian beers and sublime stuffed mushrooms.

that's what weekend's (heh) should be

you know...

i just realized that BruceLee is a serial killer in his second movie. sure, he kills dozens of people in four of his five movies (even though the toll is only three in Return of the Dragon), but he returns to the scene of the crime numerous times in this one. isn't that the sign of a serial killer? btw, this is his only movie that he sacrifices himself as well; he survives in the others. his character in Chinese Connection is a quintessential hero with a tragic flaw - he can't stop killing the Japanese thugs and their accomplices who poisoned his master ;) very Shakespearean in a kung fu sorta way.

because he's a bad ass...

been watching his movies. such an icon... it's totally weird to wax nostalgia in his pics and realize that i've already outlived him. so tragic to have your life snuffed out of you when you're 33 and just starting to make it big.

recently, i found a boxed set of Bruce Lee movies for a pittance on eBay. my father gets in a hie-ya mood sometimes and wants to watch martial arts movies. it's just a good time to sit with him and hear him laugh. if i ever make it to 87 years-old, i want to be as cute as my dad. he's so cool...

sore eyeballs...

i've been playing this game lately and it has me completely hooked! it's very much like Boggle on CD-ROM. think of a tetris-like word game. you make words and more letters come down. sometimes, there are bonus letters that glow green or yellow. other times, red letters rain down. if you let them reach the bottom, the poor bookworm gets torched and you're finished. also, for the scrabble fan, there are bonus words that you can try to build. the first one starts at 1000 points and grows to 50,000, where it plateaus. still, for those who relish in scoring big points, that's the way to fulfill (my) greedy tendencies.

it's a time waster, but at least your mind is in constant motion. there is only so much surfing a person can do...

anyway, with a little patience and nerves of steel, you can rack up some serious scores. at first, most games were lasting me about an hour. however, this last one probably took 3.5 hours. i was really level headed...i didn't panic and waited for the opportune time to get the bonus words when they materialized.

after staring at the screen for 210 minutes, i was rewarded with a score of 1,172,120 and a twitchy left eye. i wonder how long it'll take me to fall asleep. i bet i'll dream of glowing letters...falling out of the sky ;)

damn word game...

elvis...

has just left the building. not really. another star in our lives though, went home about three hours ago. my super cute nephew, christian. you remember him...brilliant, always on the go, inquisitive, well behaved, a joy to be around. yeah, him...



well, he just turned ten months today. and he's JUST about ready to walk. it's surreal how fast he can crawl.

christian had such a busy day w/ us. lois read to him in spanish (maybe he'll be the only truly trilingual person in the family), played piano with him, and fed him peaches. i only lifted him a few dozen times, jumping (more like bounding) high into the stratosphere ;) talk about a workout! he's 23 pounds of solid muscle. hah! no need for the gym. mebbe i'll cancel my membership and go to my sister's instead ;)

while we were feeding him, i was trying to amuse him by toying with a heavy duty cardboard 'coaster.' basically, it's Pooh w/ the letter 'V' on one side and some 'v' words on the other side. probably 3" x 3". looks like this...

yeah. well, i was spinning it around on the table while lois was saying in a screechy voice, "SPIN!!!" it really got the giggles going in him, so much that we were sure he was peeing his britches. he was alternating bites of food, sucking on a individually foil wrapped (celestialseasonings) tea bag, and watching the show.

in keeping with the rhythm of things, i decided to up the ante and started to flick the coaster into the air. you know, spinning it like jugglers throw rings... oh man, he was squealing big time! i was getting so much velocity on the spin that it went over their heads a couple times, causing me to reach over and snatch it out of the air. and once, i even flicked it so hard that it went behind me towards the wall...and i misjudged it.

yep. i didn't reach back far enough and it slipped through my fingers and a (rounded) corner of it caught me square in the forehead. BONK! it took a little skin off and scraped a wee bit of blood.

as if i wasn't dumb enough before...i just love it when i try to knock down my IQ another 50 points!

christian is just lucky that he's got an uncle who's willing to risk cranial deformation for the sake of his sheer entertainment. god, he is SO worth it!

pics...

of some old gals. coco, who passed away in july 2004, is on the left and annie, who is still going strong at 13 years, is on the right. we miss cokie, she was the naughtiest yorkie but had the most character of any dog i have ever known. it was always her way or the highway... and she always reminded you who was boss by rolling her whole body on yer feet in the morning. or maybe it was thanks...like when she kissed your foot when you let her in the back door.

annie is one of the goofiest dogs. she was tormented by cokie on a daily basis. so much that she became a nervous wreck when it came to needing attention. it's funny because she only needs attention when you're trying to pay bills or talking on the phone. otherwise, she LETS you know when you can pet her or rub her belly. talk about selective love...

awesome dogs though. good with everyone and all visiting dogs. one of a kind rascals....

i so need to take a bath...

not a shower. a real bath. ya just gotta have 'em a few times a year...to cleanse the mind and soul. besides, the weather's looking gloomy outside. what a better time than to relax this grey day away...

update on eye...

went to the corneal specialist last week. he said everything looks good. there is no crazy swelling activity in the affected eye. it seems to be all quiet in there. i still have to continue the lotemax drops every other day for the next six months until my next appt. in september.

nothing groundbreaking. in fact, very similar to the last two appts. i had. one thing, though, i did learn that the two muscles that dilate the pupil (when it's dark) and tighten it (when it's light), don't function correctly. when he dilated both eyes, the right one took immediately. it was bigger than a pencil eraser. however, the left only got halfway there. and even after administering another drop and waiting ten minutes, it didn't reach the dilation size of the right pupil.

so mebbe my acupuncturist and chiropractor can work with that diagnosis. i just have to be patient and cross my fingers.

if anything, the floater seems to be dissapating and the glare is almost minimal. as for the filmy haze, i can't tell if it's improving much. both the tech and doctor seem to believe that the slight dilation and haze will never go away. nevertheless, i can't give in and believe that. the retinal doc said that all would go away after time. i seem to go with that prognosis since he's been practicing almost as long as the corneal doc has been alive.

it's just a matter of time...

and another niece...

this is the florida niece's younger sister...who lives in denver. she's gonna be 15 next month...and an aunt in a few months. i know she's excited.

post #445...

that is what you're reading.

here's a photo of my niece, probably when she went to Ecuador last year...

oh yeah...

i forgot to mention that my niece in Florida is going to have a little boy in july. i'm going to have a great nephew...sniff

may just have to get to fort lauderdale this summer ;) as long as there's no hurricane...

omg...

i just started putting google ads in my blog and today, i spotted an ad for 'wu long tea: the chinese solution for dieting.' wha??? click on the link (if it's still there after this post) and you'll see ALL its advantageous uses when it comes to dieting. and look! it's ONLY $37 for a thirty day supply...golly gee.

um. i can get you a box of oolong tea at the asian store for a couple dollars...but don't tell those at wulongforlife.com

puh-leeze

mmm...

early leftovers! for st. patty's day eve, i made corned beef & cabbage (of course). there should be enough for tomorrow night. that is, if i don't totally gorge on it while lois is asleep. heh

watched a couple more movies from netflixx. tonight, we watched the rest of Thunderbolt, which is a jackie chan movie from 1995. it's about an ex-gran prix racecar driver who is hellbent on revenge when a villainous driver kidnaps his two kid sisters...in retaliation for getting arrested by the HK cops (w/ the help of chan's character). yeah, confusing. i had seen it ten years ago on vhs...fell asleep...didn't remember most of the movie. i just think it should've been called 'revenge of two drivers in a sport that no one watches.' that would've caught my attention and prevented me from ever renting it.

i like jackie chan...been a big fan of his since the late 70's, when he made his breakthrough HK kung fu movies, like Snake In The Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master. i've probably seen about 40 of his movies and i can tell you that this was in the bottom ten. either it was extremely edited or he rushed through it for a crapload of money. the storyline and acting are atrocious. granted, the stunts and fighting are amazing, but that's usually the norm for him. ah well. even jackie chan's worst movies are 100x better than steven seagal's best piece of crap...

after dinner, we settled back in and put Hotel Rwanda on. wow. not as creepy and sinister as The Killing Fields, but still very powerful Don Cheadle was excellent! not bad for a guy that went to East High here in Denver. he was very worthy of the best actor nomination. even better than Joaquin Phoenix in Walk The Line. btw, Phoenix has a small role in this flick as well...

well, i just looked at our queue on netflixx and we have 130 more movies to watch. next up, The Wilby Conspiracy (a 70's thriller starring Michael Caine and Sidney Poitier) and Proof (Gwyneth Paltrow's latest). hopefully, we'll get these in a few days. what sux about netflixx is that even if you check your queue a couple days after you return your movies (in great anticipation of the forthcoming titles), you can't report a problem until at least six days after you've returned them. i know that they probably have a shitload of movies to process through different mailing centers, but when you compound that with the fact that they don't ship on weekends, makes me think that it's a stall tactic to limit the number of rentals. remember that guy in michigan? he was watching his three movies so quickly that his turnaround for a month was 18 movies; netflixx was making NO money on that guy...

c'mon, we don't want to watch 18 movies a month, but ten might be nice...hell, eight would be okay too. just get 'em here...dammit!

so stuck...

ever since the Mamma Mia show last night (which was awesome...thanks cindi!) i've had assorted ABBA songs dancing in my head. not necessarily a bad thing BUT wearisome after a day or so ;)

really though, the show was campy as hell, outfitted crazily, and executed almost flawlessly (both in song and dance). the ONLY thing that was a bit annoying - cindi will agree - was the position of our seats in regards to the speakers (i.e., right in front). they played the music so loud at the beginning and second act that some of us were covering our ears or stuffing them w/ tissue (like lois 7 me). i swear, cindi and i were jolted out of seats (mid-sentence) at the end of intermission...i know some people shit their pants it was so abrupt!

i saw that SweetCharity will be in town...w/ Molly Ringwald...gasp! it's hard to believe that Sixteen Candles was made more than twenty years ago. guess we're all getting old. after all,

Anthony Michael Hall will be 38 next month...

mebbe we can get tix to that! i've seen the movie...never on stage though. i think it opens next season, in december...

just back...the final chapter

sounds like some horrific blog post, eh?

THE CREATURE FROM THE BLOG LAGOON

actually, i think brooke shields and chris whatshisname starred in that about 25 years ago...

really, we did have a long day.

we had free tix to the ballet at Ellie Caulkins for the 7:30 Cinderella show.

had 5:30 reservations at Rialto Cafe

cool decor but weird place.

you are named after a theatre district in Rome and yet you offer skillet corn bread to every table. and what is up with the over-ambitious busy (and mediocre) food? who the hell puts raspberries, strawberries, golden raisins, figs, and dried papaya (?) in a waldorf salad?

you may as well call it ambrosia free fruit salad with a smattering of greens and send it to a hemingway competition... the entrees? weren't any better... i had chicken pomodoro pasta and lois opted for their so-called flat iron steak (looked more like a piece of chuck). both were pretty lame. tasted okay but poorly executed in presentation. we paid $61.05 for ugly, mediocre food...when we could've had better looking and tasting food at MacaroniGrille...for at least $15 less.

guess where we're not going back...it's too bad because lois said she had some good lunches there with her work buddies.

the ballet? great but with some seemingly avoidable caveats...made a reality only through mass homicide

we had a couple tix in the private loge that lois' company has...since they renovated the building over a period of two years to the tune of $90 million.

the loge box seats are 7-8 per spacious box. in each area, there's 3-4 tall bistro/bar seats (very similar to those found at billiard halls) and 4 lower seats (round chairs - upholstered and padded). nice setup but a bit of a bear to pull the chairs out. the lower seats definitely need casters.

the show was excellent. the entire cast was gifted in both strength and grace. you (or maybe it's just me) often wonder how many hours it took to build up the muscles to perform some of the moves.

nope. no problem with the show. the sets were ethereal and the lighting dramatic without being distracting or gaudy.

no...what i deemed to be justifiable homicide was to slaughter the idiots in the adjacent loge box. it was a couple with comp tix (understandable) and their seemingly huge entourage (completely confounding).

i dunno but the eight people in this posse was made up of (i think):

mom dad grandpa grandma brother girlfriend neighbors and three grandkids.

guess with which faction we had a problem...

yeah...the kids turned out to be very cute 3-4 year-olds who loudly whispered from across the box. ummm. whispering is meant to be directed INTO an ear, not across the auditorium.

ah well. at least they've got indoor voices...

of course, the real problem had lain with the adults. poorly behaved kids are a result of oblivious parents who are lacking in responsibility and common sense.

the lights go out...the music starts...and crinkling commenced.

yes, this clan surreptitiously smuggled 'treats' for the kids...juice boxes, snacks, etc.

arghhhhhh

it's one thing to sneak candy and a soda into a movie theater. who doesn't do this?

what the hell are you bringing your oversized backpack of junk food to a ballet performance? you could have rented a video and watched it at home!

the crinkle of their super size doritos bag was maddening...

oh, they weren't done yet.

kids start jabbering. we're talking about three year olds who might have an inkling of pretty cinderella...solely through animation. but do you think kids can sit through a half hour performance if you have to bring snacks to keep them occupied...LET ALONE three acts and two intermissions (135 minutes total)?!?

kids start arguing/whining/crying. instead of shushing them for the ENTIRE performance, would it not be more effective to TAKE the kids out into the lobby for a little talk/idle threats?

click...crankcrank

yes, i'm now the crank. really though, i'm referring to the idiot mom(?) who had the audacity to sneak in a camera to take pictures during the ball scenes. okay, i saw a couple other flashes in the mezzanine. mebbe some overzealous shutterbugs with their digital cameras, fished out from their pockets. it seems pretty impossible to go to any performance without someone wanting to click pics. i, too, have snuck in a camera into heavy metal concerts (as a teenager) to get some coveted pics of drugged out, piss drunk rock stars whom i thought were kewl.

but these people brought in a DISPOSABLE camera...yeah, the type that you have to turn the plastic wheel to advance the film.

so torturous to not sling a couple chairs into their overcrowded space - a lesson in self-restraint.

why the rant? because all this crap was audible from two sections over! we had moved over one more box after the first act.

it was such a teeth gnashing poke-me-in-the-eye night.

it's not that we're ballet/opera/symphony/performing arts snobs. it's just that you expect a little common sense when you attend these things. just SHUT it and watch...if that's too much to ask, either don't attend or gimme one of the ritalins that you're obviously forgetting to take.

a good rant though...i can honestly say that it made me sleepy and fulfilled my cathartic needs. i can rest well, knowing that i dragged you all down with me ;)

just back, pt. 2

we did finally find eight slides that provide the best depiction of 'How Five Dumb Tourists Pull A Brahma Bull Out Of The Mud.' from those, we'll probably submit two or three...

such a daunting feat

not the act of pulling the bull, but looking at all the slides that are in hopeless disarray and coming to the cold realization that i gotta organize all my slides. i know that i mentioned having to look through a couple hundred pics - mostly out of sappy reminiscence - but that is about 5% of my total count of my slides...3500 of which are of my travels through spanish speaking countries and 40 or so archaeological sites.

yeah...so *YAWN*...exciting

see why i've put all this shit aside and avoided it for years?

still 4000 slides is NOTHING. i'm sure i've mentioned my mentor, Ruben, in past posts. the man has probably over 90,000 slides that he has accumulated over the past 30 years in documenting Mesoamerican sites.

yeah...90 GRAND!!!

wHeRe da fuck do you store those? and how do you keep them from succumbing to the elements?

gee-zuhs

good thing he went digital about ten years ago, that's all i can say...

just back...

kinda busy day.

went to the chiropractor around noon. things are looking good. instead of four or five cracks when he adjusts my lower back, each side only clicked once. the big right toe is almost normal again. this time last year, it was swollen and resembled a goutish digit...ewww. the neck? well, it's moving better and freer. the doc said that i may only need to come as the need arises after next saturday.

there's nothing like an occasional chiropractic adjustment. i feel a couple inches taller every time i leave the office. now, i need to see my massage therapist a couple times and you'll be able to trade me in for higher than book value ;)

after our treatments (lois has had pelvic problems), we had lunch at a sub shop just down the street from the chiro office. mmmm...

this shop is called New York Subs (i think their official name is New York NY Fresh Deli). and although i know nothing about a REAL NY sub, i do know that these were the best sammiches we've had in a LONG time. we ordered a Soho (turkey, salami, and provolone) and a Bronx Bomber (corned beef, pastrami, and provolone).

drool.

when it comes to sandwiches, i am a fiend for salami, pastrami, and/or roast beef. and there's nothing like high quality meat (even on white bread). who cares if you have specialty breads or artisan cheese - it's the meat, dummy.

sigh

eh-knee-weigh...

we came back home and filtered through a couple hundred slides, looking for a few that we're going to submit w/ a 250 word story for a travel contest sponsored by budgettravel magazine. ya see, every month, there's a trip giveaway to the best reader submitted (true) story. some of the trips that have been given away over the last couple years are:

week in Rome
African safari
rainforest expedition in Costa Rica

this month, though, the top prize is a week in Tahiti. think we ain't goin' for it?

i'll keep you posted on what we're going to submit. although lois and i have dozens of stories over the past 15 years, we feel that there are only a couple that are worth repeating ad nauseam. well, mebbe six...but three would hopefully make prize winning entries.

i think you all have read the most wacko story (my Kobe earthquake story via Guatemala). unfortunately, it's so bizarre that i think most reviewers at budgettravel wouldn't believe it. however, the two others are somewhat touching and pull at the heartstrings.

up for your consideration are:

Let's Save Her [an account of five adventure travelers in the Bolivian pampas who foolishly dislodge a female brahma from the all encompassing muck, while a curious (but probably hungry) alligator watched from afar].

don't worry, that's not the title we're submitting...but that's exactly what happened

AND

Seeking peace between Chiapanecos and national best interest: Hunger brought on by military strife is killing us (the witnessing of a peace rally in the main plaza of Comitán, México...from the front row).

we've got to submit one by the end of the month...so look for a draft within the next week or two!

shit like this...

only interests odd people who stay up late and are into death/murder/strange endings...like me.

50 MOST AWESOMELY DEAD ROCK STARS

it's almost surreal to think that i've outlived many of these icons...hmmm.

with death comes notoriety...and sometimes, notoriety makes the living wish they were dead.




one of my favorites is #45, still one of the best rock drummers ever. Long live Keith Moon...

i think...

i've sold out. however, it was done out of sheer curiousity. i'll let you know in a couple days. or you may just see it and figure it out for yerselves.

hiya...

sure is nice outside and here i am blogging about it instead of enjoying it. i guess if i had a laptop, i could do both.

hmmm. been thinking about partaking in Denver Restaurant Week which is an eight day celebration of the dining industry. for $26.40 per person ($52.80 a couple - didja guess that it's presented by the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau), you can get at least a three course meal (and even more with some places) at one of 120 participating restaurants. i checked out about a dozen places that we haven't been and thought we may just have to do it tonight. with weather this nice in february/early march, you gotta take advantage of getting out...even more of a reason to not cook heh.

i read in the paper that last saturday was the busiest day ever for one restaurant and was an all-around hit. really, it is a pretty good deal because at more expensive places such as Kevin Taylor, Elway's, 1515, Capital Grille, Highland's Garden Cafe, Mirepoix, etc., $26.40 barely covers an entree...let alone an appetizer (or salad) AND dessert too.

i see that Little India is on the list. now, normally, we don't spend more than $50 for a meal there but it may be worthwhile to get one three course and add another entree and glass of wine. lois was mentioning a couple days ago that it was just about time for some vindaloo and saag. still, there are at least 15 other places that have some really exotic menus...

will keep you posted

another announcement...

got a new computer on monday and DSL on friday...we're stylin' now! oh yeah, we joined netflix too. so far, we've put on about three dozen movies on our list.

netflix claims to have over 55,000 titles. to watch all of 'em would mean having one on 24/7 for a minimum of nine years. we'd be lucky to catch 125 a year - 200 for the obsessed.

an announcement...

Happy Birthday to my mom ('29), sister (Shirley - '58), and friend ('54). i just found out that one of them plays Boggle and is claims to be killer at it. we'll see. i got both boggle and boggle master (aka Big Boggle). name the time and place ;)

so not in the mood...

i've been experiencing major blogging issues...like posting at all. who hasn't felt antisocial when it comes to blogging?

haven't they come out with a pill for that? you know, zoe-loft for uninspired bloggers...

yesterday was a busy day out. we had chiropractor appts. around noon...went to cindi's favorite (appelbee's)...dropped off an extra computer/laser printer/monitor at our friend's (Alem) house...set it up...played with her youngest (Ben - 9 mos.)...and rushed home to get ready for our 5:00 reservation at Kevin Taylor's at the Opera House.

man, talk about layering. the wind was quite unforgiving yesterday. usually, when the sun is out...the cold temps don't seem so bad...but when it's less than 10 degrees and windy? only staying in helps.

we were a bit late for our reservation...ten minutes. it's nice to arrive at DCPA's parking garage early. you're not nervously scanning left and right for a space on the first two or three levels...we got one in the middle (near the elevators and handicap ramp).

the corner table is actually where we sat last night. it's a kinda secluded deuce that faces out into the open dining room. we much prefer this over sitting in the middle where people bump into you and conversations seem futile.

instead of fighting the crowds at Valentine's, we decided to make this outing our 'date.' we indulged to say the least...and the bill reflected it ($162 w/ tip - yikes). that's cool though. ya gotta do it once in a while.

anway, as usual, lois and i got different salads and entrees to share. she wanted the watercress salad w/ poached pear, gorgonzola, walnuts, and a mustard vinaigrette...while i opted for the arugula salad w/ (teeny) cherry and pear tomatoes, fresh basil, mozzarella, and parma ham.

hers was better - i love anything w/ pear. still, arugula in a (good, aged) balsamic vinegar is always tasty.

for our entrees, she ordered the beef tenderloin and i had the diver scallops (think of triple height sea scallops). unfortunately, i ended up getting most of the tenderloin because they undercooked it...and lois doesn't like to send food back. it was a boon for me though. i prefer medium rare...and that's what it was (w/ some rare parts).

the only slight disappointment of our meal was the wait for an overpriced and very mediocre cherry crisp. i don't mind paying $8 for a 'fancy' dessert as long as it lives up to its verbage. ah well. the service was excellent and the coffee was strong...leading to some major eye bulge when we departed for Boettcher

...where Bernadette Peters was performing. and she was PHENOMENAL.

prior to reading the program, i had only known her from movies such as 'The Jerk' and 'Pennies From Heaven' and recent stage productions of Annie Get Your Gun and Gypsy..

we had NO idea that she got her theater equity card when she was 9(!)...and that she just celebrated her 58th birthday this month!!! she looks 38...

her voice and range are so impressive. she came out in a silvery white sequined gown that was drawing a lotta ogling. her musical numbers were mainly sondheim, lloyd webber, rodgers/hammerstein/hart and irving berlin. she even covered Peggy Lee's 'Fever' and it was WAY BETTER.

she was smokin! she sang straight through without an intermission. probably a little less than 85 minutes. she wowed the whole crowd though.

another show this thursday (Showcase of American Composers). this time, we've got reservations at the Palomino. we're gonna save a little money and opt for their first seating special...basically, a three course meal w/ coffee for $19.95 ;)

fun...

we've got 5:00 reservations at Kevin Taylor's Restaurant (in the Ellie Caulkin's Opera House) tomorrow night.

afterwards, we're going upstairs (out to Boettcher Concert Hall) to see Bernadette Peters...

FUN

unfortunately, the high tomorrow is supposed to top out at 20 degrees.

not so fun...

ah well, better tomorrow than today. right now, the outside temps are slowly inching into the minus readings. in fact, the wind chill is 15 below. weathering cold temps like that surely make homeless people older. jeez, just being out in the elements...

what sucks even more is the current temperature in Hollywood, FL. it's 8PM there and it's 70 degrees...grrr

tee vee...

off to watch the winter games. didn't catch the opening ceremonies last night. i hear that disco was a major theme...ooh. never was one to watch the opening ceremonies anyway. i've always hated the cold; seeing everyone march into the stadium just makes me colder.

did catch some of the nordic combined this afternoon. it was the first half of the competition (i.e., ski jumping). the best (american) hope for a medal, Todd Lodwick (from Steamboat) finished 8th...

well, what's on for tonight?

what i wanna know...

is how someone can watch 18-22 movies per month through Netflix? that guy was definitely getting his money worth...

my niece...

i absolutely adore her...yet i hate her at the same time. she asked me recently to keep a look out for cheapo fares from florida (ft. lauderdale and miami, specifically) to Jamaica. what i hate is that she's living in a city that has some of the cheapest fares to the caribbean and latin america; it is such a gateway. argh ;)

if i wanted to go to Kingston, Jamaica from Denver, it'd cost $600+. for her, she can get a sale and go for just under $200. i guess it doesn't hurt to be 1650 miles closer either...

sigh...i SO want to go somewhere.

SO WHAT ELSE IS NEW.

went to see 'Walk the Line' last sunday. you know, the johnny cash hollywood take on his life. last year, it was ray charles. whozit gonna be this year? boy george?

anyway, after seeing ads for 1/2 price Dr. Doolittle tix an hour before the show, we were contemplating on getting a couple seats. that is...until we read Cindi's review. still, they were half price. that is...until we read the theater critic's review in the paper. nah. even at half price.

so...we've decided to catch matinee showings of the Oscar nominees every sunday until the awards ceremony on march 5th. i know Walk...isn't nominated for best pic, so that leaves us with four more to see (we've already seen 'Crash'):

Brokeback Mtn.
Good Night, and Good Luck
Capote
Munich

i'm not sure if we're gonna see 'Munich' though. 'Transamerica' and 'Syriana' look intriguing though. and the best foreign (picture) nominees? we haven't seen a single one. of course, of the five nominees, three have yet to be released (at the end of the month), one is already on DVD, and the other might not be released in the States. oh well.

mebbe we'll see Capote this sunday. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is an exceptional actor. he was outstanding in 'Flawless', 'Patch Adams', and 'Cold Mountain.' we have yet to see him in 'Love, Liza', for which he was critically acclaimed.

in a slump...

from Mary's blog...which i should blogroll again. she's a riot!

~~The 4’s meme~~

4 jobs I’ve had in my life:
restaurant server
archaeologist
art museum teacher
1st grade tutor (remember that, J?)

4 movies I can watch over and over:
Central Station
Shall We Dansu?
Buena Vista Social Club
Margaret Cho: I'm The One That I Want

4 places I have lived:
Denver, CO
Columbia, MO
San Andrés Cholula, México
Bella Unión, Perú

4 places I have been on vacation:
Guatemala
Bolivia
Spain
Costa Rica

4 TV shows I like to watch:
Open All Hours
'Allo, 'Allo!
Are You Being Served?
Red Dwarf

4 websites I visit (almost) daily:
ebay.com
yahoo.com
imdb.com
blogspot.com

4 favorite foods:
Thai (from Taste of Thailand)
pizza (from New York Pizzeria)
chili dogs (from Hamburger Stand)
oxtail soup (made by my mom)

4 places I would like to be right now:
El Mirador, Guatemala
Argentina
Cambodia
Madidi wilderness, Bolivia

she has come over...

to the dark side.

my niece, whom i had mentioned in the weather pixie post, has started a blog w/ blogger. i'm very happy. she already had one with myspace.com, but that always seemed like a massive chat room to me. i was pondering going over there at one point...if everyone wasn't so darned young ;)

i wish i was ambitious and talented as she, when i was 22...

anyway, she's a student at Nova University, a brilliant painter/photographer/poet, so exotically beautiful, and a few months pregnant.

Bienvenidos mi sobrinita...

houston...

we have heat.

the guys finished about 2:15 and were gone by 3:30 (tons o' cleaning up). we've got the heat set at 68 and it came up fast...considering the first water to go through was 46 degrees.

it's unbelievable how quickly it heated up. with the old boiler, it could take two days to get it to the desired temp. and even then we had to set it at 75 degrees. i'm wondering if we could just set the new thermometer at 65 and leave it. although we'll only recoup the $10K when we sell the house, it'll still be nice to see (hopefully) smaller heating bills. $318 for natural gas was utterly preposterous...

guess who sat down on the radiator when she got home ;)

well?

do you agree?

i won't be able to tell you until i rent most of 'em ;)

however, we have been seein' some good movies...

how about 'The Eel' or 'In The Bedroom'.

speaking of Oscar nominations, Cindi, it might be good if you sat down and watched some of the videos that someone lent you...last year...ahem. at least watch the 'Oscar's Greatest Moments' tape w/ bfg. you MIGHT just enjoy it...

it's time to move that box off of the piano bench and in front of the TV, missy!

didja know that...

a cord of wood will also produce one of the following:

30 Boston rockers
460,000 personal checks
61,370 No. 10 envelopes
1200 copies of National Geographic
12 dining room tables that each seat eight people

89,870 sheets of letterhead bond paper
942 one-pound books
1500 pounds of paper
7,500,000 toothpicks
4,384,000 commemorative-size postage stamps
the heat equivalent of burning a ton of coal or 200 gallons of fuel oil.

geez.

almost...

just waiting for the boiler guys. they didn't quite finish yesterday...but they did get a lot done. friday, the removal of the asbestos and boiler dismantling took about four hours. after those guys left, the install guys were here for another two and a half. yesterday, four guys worked straight through between 9 and 5. hopefully, today they'll get done before noon. of course, i don't know what work looms today...

if anything, it'll be great to have heat for the first time in 11 days. we've been cranking the space heaters and burning lotsa wood in the fireplace. it's funny because we have about thirty logs that have been stacked in the backyard, uncovered...baking...soaking...drying..., for at least three years. our friend, Beto, dropped it off and we had been cursing him ever since.

ha...those babies have saved us.

we had forgotten how nice it is to have a real fire. the prefab logs that you buy at the store don't give off much heat since hot embers aren't produced. you get a firestarter (made of chips pressed in paraffin) and a few logs going - you're all set.

now, what to do with all those ashes...

not quite...

looks like i've got a few more minutes to blog...lois is on the phone with her sister.

if you haven't already noticed, i've added some cities to weather pixie because...

Ushuaia is the southernmost town in the world, which we hope to visit this november (if) we go to Argentina.

Hollywood, FL is where my eldest niece, Natalie, lives. she's gonna deliver the first great grandchild of the family this july...whoa! i simply CANNOT believe that i'm gonna be a great uncle!

Abilene is the (major) town closest to where Lois was born in Texas. we're supposed to go to Coleman this may for a 60th wedding anniversary. we were last in that area of texas in 2002 (when the Hayman fire was raging here) for a (now traditional) family reunion.

Santa Fe is where my friend, Antonio, works. He's the curator of ethnography at the Museum of Indian Arts. We were drinking buddies in the 90's...who systematically terrorized the national anthropology meetings from '95 to '00. he's still terrorizing, but with charlie cambridge and ruben mendoza now (and they wrote the book on anthropological terrorism). that's okay though. seems that i've dropped out of the anthro circle/network...

in transition...

the boiler guy came this morning to wipe out the half ton monster out of the basement. it took four guys four hours to hack that baby out. it's surreal how the boiler room echoes now... and with that done, the heating guy is back and is pounding out some old pipes that will probably be retrofitted with the modern stuff for the new, svelte model. in a gesture of kindness, the owner of the company brought over two space heaters to compensate for all the woodburning we did over the past few days. unfortunately, i forgot to take a pic of the behemoth before they hacked it up and took it out, but here's a photo of the model that's gonna replace it. notice that it's wall mounted...
so it looks like they should be finished on monday. let's hope so. and then you'll no longer hear about 'fweezin' anymore.

out for thai food tonight. we'll warm up there with spicy food and contemplate coming back; they may let us sleep in their kitchen if we're nice.

fweezin' part two...

although it's not that cold outside, it's downright frigid in here. ya see, we've had stronger natural gas smells lately in the basement. turns out that the 80 year-old boiler downstairs needs to go. however, before they put in that beautiful 95% efficient replacement, someone has to chop it up and remove it...along with the asbestos. oh joy...

even more titillating is the cost - $9440. i don't know how much the new model is, but i do know that there's more work than meets the eye. the boiler is a huge cylinder...roughly four feet wide by six feet high. it's set upon a cement pedestal (which will be removed) and is a major eyesore. so, once all that is out, they're gonna replace it with a unit that's wall mounted and about the size of two computer towers.

bi-iig difference.

it's too bad that this house isn't heated by a furnace. don't they run $1500? ah well, hot water heat is nice too...

it'll be so weird to have space in the boiler room. we're gonna have to call it something else though...mebbe the all things flammable room. after all, there's the xmas tree and wrapping paper all jammed into the corner.

poof

fweezin'...

brrr. do not want to go out for some groceries today. we've got company tonight, someone who works with lois...jen from boston :) she's the assistant to the pr guy. a really cute gal who simply adores lois - we like her heh.

i've been trying to decide what kind of seasoning to use for the pork tenderloin. adobo chile rubbed...caribbean jerk...emeril's baby bam...honey mustard...or apple cider. at least i do know that we'll be serving it with a mixed greens salad with cherries and granny smith apples; that nixes the apple cider i guess. some couscous and glazed carrots. we already have a bottle of gewurztraminer in the fridge but may concede to some sangiovese depending on what i decide for the meat flavor. the gewurztraminer would go well with a spicy or salty pork tenderloin and the sangiovese would pair well with a rich/hearty flavor.

we'll see.

jen said she'd bring over dessert...i wonder what though. heck, i'd be happy w/ oreos.

been checking out more things from the library. lois got a 28 cd audio version of a book. that should keep her eyes rested some. did i mention how her surgery went? well, it was the fourth surgery on her right eye that sustained a detached retina last january. this time, it was to remove the oil that was placed in there last march and to fix the (transplanted) lens that she coughed loose in a bout of pneumonia not long after the third surgery.

we went to the retinal specialist last thursday and he said it all looked good. the vitreous fluid in the eye was busily regenerating and everything was intact. even better is the glare that lois endured for a year is finally gone. unfortunately, she's got to get over a little double vision and slight headaches. hopefully, all that will subside in the next month.

yay!

btw, i went back to the corneal specialist last wednesday and he put me on some other drops (Lotemax). it's a weaker version of the prednisolone (Pred Forte)that i was on for roughly six months. apparently, if you take the Pred Forte drops for too long, it increases your eye pressure too high and cataracts develop. oh joy!

so i've gotta be on these lotemax drops every day for the next month and every other after that for another 30 days. he said that my dilation may never go down (groan)...but i'm hopeful. what else can i be?

hope you're all someplace warm.

gluttony huh?

a food meme...

1. What's your comfort food? Either chili dogs or braunschweiger sandwiches. Boxed mac and cheese with a can of tuna is a close third.

2. What's the most you've ever eaten? I once had ten slices of pizza and two salads at a Pizza Hut when I was 21 or 22. I'm not sure if that's equal to the 16 tacos and two quesadillas I scarfed at a taquería in Guanajuato, Mexico in 1998.

3. What's your favorite restaurant? I'm not sure if i have one but I can tell you that my favorite type of food is ethnic. Of course, buffets are always good.

4. What's the grossest thing you've ever consumed? It's a tie between a vietnamese duck egg (the embryo is pretty well formed and is swimming in its juices) or a huge purple pig's foot sandwich in Cholula, Mexico.

5. What eating habits disgust you the most? Smacking lips or nose blowing at the table make me homicidal.

in a rut...

maybe this will get me out of it.

Five Weird Habits/Quirks

1. Although Dr. Pepper and Coke are my preferred brands of soft drinks, I must have root beer when I'm eating pizza.

2. I can't stand having a dirty windshield or driving someone else's car with one.

3. Whenever I eat steak, I usually cut off five or six pieces at a time.

4. When I'm on the can, I must have something to read. Okay, mebbe that's too much information ;)

5. I have two rings on my right pinky finger. On occasion, I'll twirl them out of habit. If I've set them down and forgotten to put them back on, I'll feel a bit out of sorts when I want to twirl them and they're not there.

busy is as...

busy was.

We got back from Phoenix on Monday afternoon, quite unwillingly. Three days in that city was simply not enough.

Other than some rotten beds at the hotel, it was blissful. We were able to visit the Heard Museum, Phoenix Art Museum, and Taliesin West on Saturday and Sunday. All three were impressive in differing ways. The Heard Museum, which is supposed to be one of the finest Native American museums in the nation, was just gorgeous and downright vast. The collection of both ancient and modern vessels, paintings, weavings, etc. was mindnumbing. It would take a good three days to take it all in. One wing that impressed me was the Sandra Day O'Connor room, which housed their intricate collection of kachina dolls, including one unreal piece that depicted multiple dolls in a ritual; the whole thing was carved from a stump of wood. Talk about 'wow.' Outside was almost as nice as inside - there are a couple very peaceful plazas with benches and an open air cafe that were perfect for just whiling away a lazy day.

The Art Museum, although under major renovation, had two really excellent photo exhibits. The first that we saw was a 150 year overview of photography, covering everything from daguerrotypes to 21st century digital imaging. Some of the black and whites from the 30's were especially striking. There's something about black and white photos from the depression era in the U.S. On an emotive level they affect me more profoundly than the most powerful photojournalistic endeavors today. Maybe it's the change of photochemicals over the past 70 years...maybe I'm just weird too.

Anyway, after traipsing around the second floor, which wasn't that great, we returned to the ground floor and stumbled upon a Barry Goldwater exhibit. I had no idea that this Republican senator from Arizona, who was known more for his conservatism, was a phenomenal photographer. Apparently, Goldwater was interested in much of the natural and cultural beauty of his state, quite evident in the stunning shots of Navajo weavers and geologic formations. It's good that he used slide film (back then) because the colors usually last 50+ years minimum.

brb

another one...

come an' gone. Happy New Year. Hope you're all having the laziest of days. Let's just resolve to take more time to ourselves, whether in solitude or with loved ones. Life is too short to waste on meaningless quibbles; it cuts into our happy time.

nothing exciting last night. not even a champagne toast. we went out for dinner...without any reservations. of course, that means either waiting obscene times or settling for anything.

we did the latter. luckily, it wasn't 'just settling'...we were pleasantly surprised.

initially, we drove by a red lobster and olive garden. neither had a wait less than 55 minutes. so...we ended up at a little place called Applecreek (on Iliff and Havana). i think it used to be a Coco's or sumpin'. we had passed by it a few times, wondering how the food was.

pretty darn good. now, the offerings were diner-like, but with no wait...excellent service...and a pretty decent T-bone, we were outta there in an hour. about the time it would have taken to get a table somewhere else.

didn't go join the 180,000 people downtown. we did that once...froze our butts off...watched substandard fireworks...and almost walked into a pile of human poop as we shuffled our way back to the car. yeah, something i'd do againandagain.

nope. we went home and popped in a travel tape from the library. as you know, we had some documentaries that were made in the late 80's - 'The Burma Road' and 'The Pan-American Highway.' neither could have been more different in both locale and presentation.

these travelogues are two episodes of an 8-part british produced series for american public television in the 80's, called 'Great Journeys. each was narrated by a 'well-known' writer/poet/journalist.

well, the burma road was awesome. it chronicled the adventure of British journalist/broadcaster, Miles Kington, who traversed the 700 mile long corridor between Lashio, Burma and Kunming, China. the Road was hacked out by 200,000 chinese workers (some as young as five years old) between 1938 and 1939. it was originally used to supply China during the Sino-Japanese War and the first couple years of WWII. after the Japanese overran parts of it in early '42, the road was closed and supplies were flown over the Himalayas, which became to be known as 'The Hump,' for the remainder of the war.

this episode was made in 1987, before the Burmese military put the clamps on the people, ending basic freedoms of speech, and enforcing martial law. it was a much carefree time for the Burmese people and it shows.

Kington, was a phenomenal narrator. sure, he didn't speak the language well...and the travel conditions were rustic, even by third world standards, but he took everything in stride and interacted with many of the people he came into contact. he was the perfect traveler in every sense...or at least what they had on film ;)

the tape on the Pan-American Highway was almost a polar opposite. it was poorly narrated and condescendingly presented by some poet, Hugo Williams. having traveled much of the Pan-American Highway myself (in mexico, guatemala, costa rica, bolivia, and peru), i was offended in the way he made the route to be...a long sinuous path of filth, poverty, and shallow oddities. it was merely about his idiocy (without any self-deprecation) in traveling through lands in which he barely tried to speak the language, did very little research of each respective country, and catered to his sheer survival in a wild and dangerous place. BARF

at one point, we were appalled with one segment of him, talking to the herpetologist at the San Salvador Zoo. it wasn't the five minute conversation about snakes and politics that bothered us though. no...we were pissed that he chose a British ex-pat who had a skewed view of the politics. it just seemed less genuine and more self serving that he hadn't sought out an El Salvadoran.

i know it's rather subjective - the guy's point of view regarding the trip. i just feel the whole presentation did no justice whatsoever to the culture, history, and geography of Central America. when he could have showed and commented on the volcanic topography, tropical regions and occasional vast stretches of desolate land along this highway that crosses through 15 countries and gobs of diversity. we were disgusted by this video debacle to say the least...

ah well. it's not like we paid $8 to see it at the theaters. but hey, it gave me something to blog about, since the majority of my postings have been nothing short of innocuous.

we're off to lunch, a cheapie, and shopping now...maybe even in that order. have a great day!