Okay, I started Christmas shopping. Sad...its not even December and I've already started. Well better late than never. I'll probably do more this week. I got two gifts so far, and a lot more to go.

Its starting to feel a lil more like Christmas with this freakin cold ass weather. Its been awhile sleeping with pajama pants. I'm not complaining...I love it!! Snowboarding's just around the corner!

Just scored some free suite tickets to next Friday's Laker game against the Hawks. I can't wait...free food and booze!

Ahhh...back from a nice Thanksgiving break. It's been kinda crazy at work, trying to work on multiple things at the same time, and trying to finish everything during a short week. I really needed some alcohol so the weekend began with some sake shots and grub at Shin Sengumi with the roomies, Cat, Ryan, James, Anna, Lou, and Belle. The food was okay, it tasted good...just not enough to get you full. But the sake did its job. We were all feeling good.

Karen and I left Thursday morning for Oxnard to spend Thanksgiving with my parents. Karen's parents and younger brother also drove up for dinner, meeting for the first time. It was pretty exciting as after 3+years that Karen and I have been dating, they finally met. The grub was sooo good! Had turkey, prime rib, pancit palabok, honey-baked ham, stuffing...the works. And yes I shitted a monster.

Karen and I also did our Black Friday shopping, waking up at 4am and heading to Best Buy. It was madness, as I didn't pick anything up worth waking up for. I just got Entourage Season 2 on DVD. Afterwards, we made stops at Office Depot, Sport Chalet, Circuit City, and Target. Picked up a small LCD widescreen t.v., a new coffeemaker, some compression running tops, and a new knife set. Got done shopping around 9:30, then just felt tired the entire day.

Saturday morning, Karen and I left for Irvine to drop off our stuff, then met up with my parents at my sisters and had Thanksgiving all over again at her house, since she couldn't travel to Oxnard. Got to grub again, drink a couple of glasses of Ramey Chardonnay, hung out with the kids, played baseball and basketball with my oldest nephew, watch the freakin Trojans beat Notre Dame and move into 2nd place (they so don't deserve it!), then headed home and knocked out.

Sunday, Karen and I slept in. We watched Tenacious D at the movies (a lil bit of a disappointment), then met up with Lou, Belle, Ryan, and Tommy for some sushi. Very eventful weekend, yet went by so fast. Now its back to work. Boo.

Its finally getting cold, and I'm getting excited for snowboard season to start. I saw this cool Ride jacket at Sport Chalet that I'm eyeing on for the season. I also got a new Camelbak to use on the slopes. Our annual snowboard trip is almost set, and we're heading back to Tahoe City again...at the same exact cabin...hopefully =) I checked, and its still available, so I'll probably book it soon.

Oh yeah, the new Incubus CD is pretty dope! I'm very impressed with it. Each song sounds very different which is really cool. Just shows the variety of talent in the group.

Quick things I'm thankful of/for:

My family, my friends, my loving girlfriend, my job (tho it doesn't pay much, i'm just happy that I have a job), my shoes, my Michigan Wolverines, my Ipod, and my XT and lenses. The end.

Busy weekend today. First and foremost, I'd like to welcome my new nephew, Joshua Nicholas to the world...


Isn't he cute??


I woke up Saturday morning and received a phone call from my brother-in-law. Congrats to my sister and her husband on their new baby boy.

Anyhow, Friday night, Karen, Cat, Joe, Tommy, Ryan, Cicely, Jay, Lou, Belle, Romeo, Jen and Cesar came over to chill, drink, and celebrate Belle's birthday. Hehe, I guess drinking jaeger-bombs with friends in a quiet environment is a bad idea: people start laughing and Red Bull starts flying out of people's noses. Well, its not exactly what happened. But, what a funny moment! (gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp!!)

Saturday, after finding out about Joshua's arrival, we all headed to Lou and Belle's for an afternoon of football and bbq. We got to watch most of The Biggest Big Game of the year, and headed to the park for some flag football. And although Michigan lost 42-39, it was still a great day, as my team (THE BEST IN THE WORLD BLUE TEAM) won 4-3 (or 28-21, however you wanna describe it). After playing, Karen and I drove down to Mission Viejo to visit my sister and Joshua for about two hours, then headed back to Lou and Belle's. Hehe, I don't think I had late night Mexican food in such a long time! Carne Asada Nachos!!! Mmnmm!!

Here are some pictures of Belle's Birthday bash and Joshua.

Sunday, Karen and I went to our co-workers' wedding. Pretty cool, they had an Alice in Wonderland themed wedding in Orange. Pretty fun, it was just too freakin hot! But anyhow, here are some pictures of the wedding. And softball....it was fun in a losing effort. =) Good job everyone.

And now, I'm freakin beat. I've drank everyday this weekend and I'm so tired. I'm so glad this week is going to be short with Thanksgiving around the corner. This has got to be one of the greatest weekends ever. It would've been perfect is Michigan won, but I can live with it. Here's to good times!

(photo courtesy of John Biever of Si.com)

On the eve of the Biggest Big Game of the Year, Michigan loses their former head coach, the winningest coach in Michigan history, legendary Bo Schembechler. Rest in Peace Bo!

The game is finally here. My #2 Michigan Wolverines will play their archrival, the #1 Ohio State Buckeyes. This is the oldest rivalry in college football, dating back 103 years, but they haven't met like this before; both ranked #1 and #2 for the first time. Both have 10-0 records. One will play for the National Championship in January, the other will play in the Rose Bowl.



GO BLUE!!

Pretty cool weekend. Went to dinner with Karen last Friday and had a nice bottle of '04 Cakebread. Such a good chardonnay!! We got pretty tipsy and watched Wynton Marsalis jazz it up at my work.

Saturday, I watched the Michigan game and also watched USC loose! Whoo hoo! Then later that night, Ryan and I decided to celebrate our 22nd and 24th birthdays respectively with some friends at D&B's. I didn't wanna do anything originally but Ryan and I just did a lil last minute deal. Thanks to everyone that came out! Had a lot of fun. And thanks Karen for giving me one the best gifts ever....








The Jordan IV Retro in White/Military Blue/Neautral Grey!

I've stayed away from the shoe scene lately, but two of my favorite shoes were retro'd this year. I hope to get the other shoe sometime soon! Thank you very much again Karen!! I love it!

I've been fortunate receiving some special gifts on my birthday from a variety of people. I don't ask for anything, hint anything, or make some kind of wishlist. But of all the gifts I've received, and not to take away from others, I think this happens to be one of the best:




Yes it is my beloved Kings jersey!

Here's a litte story. Back in 1999, the Staples Center opened and both the Kings and Lakers moved from the Great Western Forum over to the newly built Staples Center. John Halog, Tony Dimaano, and my friend Alan planned on getting tickets to the opening night, however all tickets were sold out in minutes, so we decided to go to the second game of the season against San Jose. Anyhow, after parking at the infamous lot off of 9th and Francisco, and walking towards the Superstore, John and I noticed the new Kings jerseys that people were wearing. It was first year they wore those jerseys after changing from the old silver and black Gretzky era style. He asked me which jersey I liked the best of them, and I told him that I liked the purple one. I just liked the dark/midnight shade of purple they used, along with the silver and black tones. It has a hint of the vintage 1960's version with a touch of the silver and black era, but still representing the new era.

Anyhow, we got into the arena, sat upstairs in the 300 section which was freezing cold since the air condition vents were above us and for some reason were at full blast. John had brought his navy Nike jacket with him, but I noticed he took it off after the 2nd intermission and was freezing his butt off. I didn't really think of it at the time, just really excited that I'm actually in the Staples Center watching a Kings game.

So, a couple of weeks pass, my birthday comes up, and he presents my gift he helped arrange with some friends, along with a card. I have the card somewhere and it read, "This is why I was freezing at the Kings game." I unwrapped the gift and there was the jersey. I was freakin shocked. He apparently went to the Team LA store during the 2nd intermission, bought the jersey, and wrapped it with his jacket, and hid it the rest of the night.

Every time I look at that jersey, I always remember that day we went to the game, and the day he presented it to me. I have two more Kings jerseys with Gretzky embroidered on the back of them, and with the whole new era with the Kings, I wasn't sure who's name I'd get embroidered on the back.

Little did I know that the following January, God would take John from me and the rest of us. So later that year I made my decision who's name I wanted on the back:




Until this day, I still don't know exactly what happened with John and why he had to go. But every time I pull this out of my closet and wear it to the games, I'll always remember that day John and I went to Staples Center.

Crap, I really want to travel right now. I had lunch with my old co-worker today and he's taking a quick trip to Chicago for Halloween (quick, as in leave Monday and coming back Wednesday). Good news though, because he said Jet Blue will be flying out of Long Beach to Chicago in January. So yay, I'm going to Chicago (hopefully) and New York (praying) in 2007.

I murdered my fantasy opponent this passed week 140.38-105.3. I am now 2-5. I'm pretty confident with my lineup and hopefully I can take advantage of my opponent's bye issues and get back in the standings. My fantasy hockey team has also been picking it up lately, and I'm currently winning 9-1.

Got a flu shot today, the first since I was in elementary. I don't get sick often, but took advantage since it was free at work.

Ski Dazzle is coming up! Gonna look for a new jacket, maybe. Nothing wrong with my current jacket, but just wanna have a different 'look' this season. I haven't had a true snowboard jacket yet, so maybe I'll get one this season.

Good god, the LA Kings are so aweful! It's gonna be a long season! Possible suite tickets next week vs. the Penguins.

I hate credit card bills. It doesn't help that I want new toys and want to travel.

On a happier note, my sister seems to be due soon. Her contractions are picking up and it seems like she will deliver her 5th child soon. Good news: A new baby boy on the way. Bad news: A bigger dent in my wallet come Christmas. Haha, just kiddin.

I finally won my week in fantasy football! I made some trades and picked up some players through waivers and now my team is decent. I'm 1-5, so hopefully I can get a couple of more wins. How bad is my team? I have Randy Moss, that should say enough.

Heroes...freakin awesome show! Honestly, I can't remember Monday's this exciting, especially during this time of the year...yunno the weather is getting colder, and it makes it harder to wake up for work and start the week. Sure, there's Monday Night Football, but for me, that was pretty much it. And now Heroes is on right after, then Studio 60. I love it!

But yeah, Heroes is getting a lot more interesting and making Lost almost seem a little boring and slow. Of course its just the first season and we're discovering things like we did with the first season of Lost, but man, its pretty exciting. I think the only thing I don't like are the mediocre, unattractive actors/actresses. Unlike lost, these people aren't good looking. Well yeah the chick from Vegas is pretty hot, but other than that....blah. And that guy who can fly annoys the crap out of me for some reason. Bad acting or a confused character? I dunno what it is, he bugs me though.

Back to Monday Night Football, as Jon said on his blog, it just isn't the same. I don't like the presentation and it seems like its getting way too 'pop culture.' I don't care about guest celebrities appearing in the booth, nor do I care about the world premier of Jay-Z's video. Just stick to football please, it only happens once a week. We arleady have MTV and the E! channel, thank you.

My Michigan Wolverines are now ranked number 3 in the nation. I'm still wondering why USC is number 2 in the BCS when they keep struggling to win games. I'm getting excited though because if Michigan stays undefeated and beats Ohio State, they could play for the national championship. If they loose to Ohio State, they would come to Pasadena and play in the Rose Bowl...which in turn could lead to possible free tickets! =) Regardless, its a win-win situation for me.

Oh yeah, if you haven't checked out 30 Rock, its a pretty funny show. Tina Fey is pretty hot...which reminds me of Lou's post about women being hot in business attire rather than in a bikini. This reminded me of Tina Fey especially watching Weekend Headlines on SNL. She's pretty hot in them business outfits. Tina Fey...hot.

SNOW SNOW SNOW!!

Whoo hoo!! Its snowing all across California! Tahoe is getting a big dump of snow. And the local mountains might be starting to open as early as Halloween. Well, this is from the news reporting from Snow Valley, and even though I think it isn't the greatest place to go, it does bring exciting news that winter in general is around the corner!

Freak, my body is sore from softball. 0-1, but I think we'll be more competitive this season.

Dodgers...oh well next time.

Michigan Wolverines...#4 in the nation!

49ers...beat the now 0-5 Raiders!!

Fantasy Football...I lost by 1.03 points. Can you freakin believe that??

Hockey season has started! Whoo hoo.

Remember this name: ANZE KOPITAR



6'4" 220lbs 19-year old phenom for the Kings.

Yunno what commercial pisses me off?

That one Gap commercial with Audrey Hepbrn. I know a lot of people like it, and its not as if I don't like Audrey, she's cool and all, but it just gets me annoyed. Maybe cuz they keep playing it all the time, and maybe its cuz she's skinny, and wearing all black, something like a mime would wear. I can't really pin it, but it bugs the crap out of me.

Finally, Lost is here!! Jack is such an a$$hole.

Oh yeah, I checked out Northstar's website and its already starting to snow up there!! And they're set to open November 18th. My snowboarding co-worker and I are getting excited!!

Busy weekend...

Friday, was a little emotional and we wished Chels goodbye. No worries, cuz we'll see her, but just not as often anymore. Then, Karen and I went to my God-bro's wedding in San Clemente. My pictures turned out blurry, so I'm not sure if I'll post those. But we had a lot of fun. His wife, Becky, is one of 11 chidren. Yes, 11!! Crazy? God, I hope my sister doesn't have 11 kids. Number five is coming in November and she's having a boy! Anyhow, the reception was at her parents 2 million 5 bedroom-5 bath home. This family knows how to throw a party...they had 90 bottles of $350 30 year-old bottles of Dom Perignon. So if you do the math, that's like almost $32,000 on just champagne! Plus they had an open bar. So yeah, I had like 4 glasses of those, and a glass of red and another glass of white...both tasting soooo good...like melted butter after you sip it. I think it was the first time I've ever gotten pretty faded with my pops. Good times!

Saturday, Karen and I hung out with Belle, Lou, Ivy, John2, Jevon, and Millicent at D&B's and watched Little Miss Sunshine. Man, it was HILARIOUS!! I was literally crying of laughter. It was cool cuz I noticed they shot the end at Ventura Beach. I used to work right behind the hotel where they had the pageant so it was a trip to see places I drove through when I lived in Oxnard in the movie.

Sunday, practiced softball for a bit, then Ry and I headed to the Oakland/Angels game. And freak...we were so close!! How close??? This close...



2 rows behind the Oakland dugout! Here's more proof...



Pretty freakin crazy! And of course they were free!! Thanks to my co-worker for hooking it up! Sucks cuz I meant to bring my XT, but I forgot it at home. At least I had my SD450 with me. Ryan and I had a couple of chances to catch a couple of balls the A's threw to the fans, but we had these little Oakland fans in front of us so they ended up with two of them. Ryan actually had the ball in his hand once, but dropped in front of him. Oh well!

Fantasy football....blah, my team sucks, 0-4. I had my hockey draft tonight and pretty proud of it. Dana, if you're reading this, I drafted Andy McDonald for you!

Time for another week. Studio 60 is freakin awesome. And can't wait for Lost to finally start! And shit, hockey starts this week too! Plus the Dodgers are in the playoffs!! And we start softball on Sunday! Go Shockers!!

Here's to a great week!

Pretty awesome weekend...

Friday I checked out my co-workers musical down in San Juan Cap. It was pretty cool, despite being a low budget production of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." It was a fun night hanging out with Chels and Bobby for the evening.

Saturday, drove up to Oxnard to visit the folks and to shop at the Nike Outlet for running gear. Unfortunately all they had were a couple of compression shirts and no shorts to my taste. But I bought a couple, after they were only $15 each. Then I blew another $60 at the Kenneth Cole store and bought some pants and socks. Freak, I'm such a Kenneth Cole whore.

Karen drove us back to Long Beach that night and we all knocked out at Jay and Jovan's for Sunday's Nike Run Hit Remix. Such an awesome event! It was really fun...finished the 5 mile race in just over an hour. The bands were pretty cool. Young MC: dope, Vanilla Ice: blah (I stayed for a minute. He had a bunch of ugly,sweaty, female runners on stage, and he was pouring water on them with his water bottle, asking "Who Loves Sex?" So I just left), Coolio: dope, Digital Underground: WTF? De La Soul, AWESOME! I only saw a few minutes of De La cuz I went to look for Karen at the finish line. She never showed up so security told me to leave where I was at and I decided to look for her in hopes to cross the finish line with her. But after walking back towards the Digital Underground stage and noticing no one was running, I came back and found out she actually arrived even before I got to the finish line to look for her. Good Job Karen!! Black Sheep was also there, but unfortunately I only heard them from outside the Coliseum. Oh well, still such a great day to run!! And congrats to Karen, Lou, Belle, Cicely, Jay, Ryan, Glen, Jovan, Jennifer, and everyone else who particpated!


(Karen and me in front of Young MC's stage. Photo courtesy of Lou Lavarro)

Hopefully this will inspire me to run more often and participate in more events. Chicago is having a half marathon on October 1st which would've been cool. Hmmm...maybe that'll be a good excuse to travel...run around new cities and just exploring the cities while running an event. Hmmm...

Sweet, went to Chicks recently, and noticed they had their snowboarding gear up already for sale. Can't wait already!! And I found another co-worker I can ditch work and go snowboarding with Karen and me! Whoo hoo!

Boo, 0-3 in my Fantasy Football league.

Tuesday was full of shock...still shocked that the Dodgers came back to win with 4 straight homers on Monday.

And also, shocked to learn one of my closest friends is leaving work. I'm very happy for her because she does have a bright future ahead of her and this is just the beginning. It'll just be sad to not see her around work anymore.

Tough loss to swallow...in just a matter of days, my relationship with another person changes, and then now I'm losing a close friend. Well, we'll still hang out, but she's just one of those people that can put a smile on your face when things are down. Gonna miss her, dearly.

One more day till the season premiere of The Office!

It's been crazy for some people the last couple of days at work last week with the opening of the new concert hall. On Thursday, Governor Schwarzenegger stopped by the new hall and took part of the Ribbon Ceremony. Check out the pictures. I still see him as the Terminator and not the Governor of our state. Friday, was the night of the opening of the hall which included a symphony concert with Placido Domingo. It was a lil crazy, sorta reminded me like prom, with everyone preparing for this big black tie event, guys wearing tuxes, girls wearing gowns, caterer's preparing the food, red carpet rolled out, bartender's getting the champagne ready. But it was cool. Here are some pictures from the night.

There were a few celebs that night including Luka from ER and astronaut Buzz Aldrin (who I helped escort to the correct door to his seats, even though I didn't know it was him till later). No one really significant from Hollywood showed up, but no big deal. So all I did was just escort guests in, making sure they were heading in the right direction, then had a free meal at the Wyndham, watched the fireworks show, and partied it up that night at the Center Club with some free alcohol. I had a blast that evening.

The rest of the weekend was just enjoying football, especially my Michigan Wolverines pounding on Notre Dame. Although I was hung over and wasn't able to cheer and scream while watching the game, it was still quite entertaining. The Dodgers are now in 2nd place, but hopefully things will change. Fantasy football, I'm down by 24 points with 3 players playing in tonight's game. Let's see if I'll win.

Going back to the whole gala and that evening, we had a lot of fun, but I'm getting to realize that I'm outgrowing this place. Afterall, I've been here ever since I got out of college with three different positions and I think I'm close to moving on. In all honestly, I'm finding out that I can't work with certain people, even with those I'm okay with. I guess I've done all I could and I guess sometimes things don't really turn out the way you wished it would, whether its with my own position or with certain relationships with people at work. So, maybe a change would be good for me. Dunno if it'll happen soon, but its the first time where I've really considered it. I wanted to stick around at least until the hall opens and at least have 2 years under my belt with my current position. And now that it has happened, there's nothing really to look forward to. So we'll see what happens.

Time for more football and baseball...

GO BLUE!!!



BEAT THE IRISH!!!

First off, just wanted to say Happy Anniversary Karen!! Wow, three years and counting!! Thanks for everything you've done for me the past three plus years. They have been probably the best years of my life and I thank you for being part of it.

From year one:


all the way up to today:


You are the best thing that has happened to me. I love you!! Happy Anniversary!!

Weekend wrap up:

Friday, watched Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at my work and it was freakin hilarious!! I kept laughing throughout the show! Saturday, woke up to run 4 miles for the first time ever with Lou, Belle, and Ryan. They ran 12, so I met up with them during their last 4 miles. Man, I was tired! But it felt great because I've never ran that far before. I'm still out of shape, but hopefully that'll change soon and I'll be fit for the Nike Run Hit Remix. Watched some college football and the US Open Women's final. Later that night, Karen and I had dinner at Blue Water Grill. Yeah, not the most romantic place, but I was craving their Cioppino so I was happy! Then for some reason, I guess the run made me really tired so I knocked out at 11. But thank you Karen for the new Disney passes! Whoo hoo...more churros, ice cream, and prime rib at the Blue Bayou!

Sunday, pretty much spent the entire day with Ryan and Karen. Went shopping for running shoes and found the Asics Kayano XI's for only $70 at Finishline. I really wanted some New Balances, but after slipping my feet in the Kayano's, man it was heaven for my feet. Oh, and what's crazy....this was my first pair of non-Nike/Jordan shoes I bought in almost 10 years. Crazy huh? Man, even my hockey skates are Nike and softball cleats are Jordan brand. Shocking isn't it? Well I know Nike doesn't make the best running shoes, so I was sold on getting New Balances. But man, those Asics Kayano's feel soooooooo freakin comfortable, I had to get them. It gives my feet orgasms every time I walk.

Then the last part of the night, we met up with Chelsea at work and watched Dirty Rotten again. Busy weekend, but had a lot of fun. Thanks Ry for helping me find some shoes. I can't wait to break em in already!

Anyhow, today marks the 5 year annivesary the 9-11 attacks. Where was I at?? Well I remembered Rozanno's phone going off early in the morning and hearing him saying there were bomb explosions somewhere. I was half asleep, so I woke up later and saw the news on t.v. Pretty shocking. I still had to go to work, and it was such an erie feeling driving up the 405. The freeway was empty and because of the attacks, there were no planes landing at John Wayne. Sucks cuz everyone in the surrounding buildings and our administration were allowed to leave work, however I still working at the Box Office, and we had to remain open. Boo huh? So much for our personal safety.

Have any of you seen this before? This was televised I believe six months after the attacks. It was suppose to be a documentary about a rookie firefighter joining the New York City fire department. On the morning of 9-11, they get a call for a gas leak in the streets. And as the the 1st plane hovers below them, the cameraman tilts his camera just in time to see the first plane hit the towers. They also have coverage of them being inside the towers when they fall. It is truly an amazing documentary, yet very sad.

From another nerdy sports standpoint, two scouts of the Los Angeles Kings were on United Flight 175, the second plane from Boston that crashed into the World Trade Center. So as a Kings fan, it hits me a little.

We live in one crazy world. Okay, to make myself happy, I think I'll watch Team America or listen to the soundtrack. Here's one of my favorite songs from the movie:

Blah, I got irritated at work earlier...about sports.

So I'm having an A and B conversation with one of my co-workers, talking about this weekend's college football games. I talked about the UCLA game and how dope Ben Olson played, and mentioned I saw a little bit of the USC game, but cared less about them so I changed the channel.

And then I hear this person yell out, '55 points, they scored 55 points, that is amazing.' yunno, trying to rub it in cuz she knows how much I dislike SC and proclaims herself an SC fan. And this person freakin doesn't even watch sports. She just likes SC cuz her mom went there or something like that. She probably doesn't even know who the SC's quarterback is. So just the fact she butted in from her office and yelled out that crap, I responded, 'I could care less!' And she just shut up. We're all a bunch of SC haters in my department, so before last year's BCS Championship game between SC and Texas, she was all saying 'SC this, and SC' that, SC's gonna win, etc.' And yeah, she was dead silent the day after SC lost the lead in the final seconds to loose.

Damn, I hate it when people think they know freakin sports but can't back anything up. Especially freakin bandwagon fans! I hate those! And I know this person is such a bandwagon fan!! People just can't stay loyal to their teams and instead, cheer for teams that are just doing good or winning games/championships.

As for me, I'm a loyal Los Angeles Kings, Lakers, Dodgers, Michigan Wolverines, San Francisco 49er, and UCLA fan. When they win, I love it. When they do bad, I stick with them no matter what. Hell, I've been a Kings fan since 1991 and no Cup yet. And I know this season doesn't look promising, but I still will cheer for them on. I'm not like these other people that start cheering for teams just cuz they're winning games. It drives me nuts.

Being a Dodger fan here in Orange County, I get a lot of hate from the local Angel fans here. I accept it, its expected. They dont' understand though cuz they all think I was born and raised here and that I have to cheer for the local team. They don't get it that I was raised about 50 miles north of Los Angeles so by default, I became a Dodger fan. Now yeah, I did watch the Angles when I was young, but that was only when the Dodgers weren't on T.V. And even when I was young when they went to the AL Championship series against Boston in 1986, I still didn't cheer for them.

So whenever people see me cheering for the Dodgers or rooting against the Angles, I get a lot of crap. They can say all the want, I have plenty of reasons to back mine up.

Earlier this year when I went to the Dodgers/Angels game at Anaheim, I was wearing my Dodger jersey and looking outside the team store at a replica championship trophy displayed in a window. Then this bonehead Anaheim fan sees me, and yells out while walking by, 'Geez, when was the last time the Dodgers won a World Series?' Being smart and not wanting to start a fight I just said to myslef, '1988, but we have six World Series rings to your one.'

But I just hate it cuz even though I moved to Orange County in 1997, there were no Angel fans around. It wasn't until they won the World Series a few years back that a flood of Angel fans came out of nowhere...people wearing hats, stickers/license plate frames on their car, etc. I'm not baggin on EVERY Angel fan, I know a few loyal fans, but geez, don't tell me you're an Angel fan just cuz they won the World Series and that you were a fan since 2002. And I'll admit, I was cheering for the Angels that year, but for one good reason...they were playing the San Francisco Giants, the arch-enemy of the Dodgers.

Same thing when the Ducks went to the Stanley Cup Finals. Hockey barely exists here in Southern California, so when the Ducks went to the finals, people at work and all of Orange County started jumping on the bandwagon and saying 'they're gonna win, blah blah blah.' So once they loose in 7 games, the Pond had a hard time selling out games the following year. Shoot, the Kings had a worse record the following season and still sold out more games. Yeah granted it is Los Angeles and not Anaheim, but I think a lot of it has to do more with how loyal fans are. That's just my opinion.

Some people have the 'cheer for the local team' rule, but I don't really believe that. I believe in rivalries and that true fans stick with their teams through thick and thin.

But I'm not disrespecting Anaheim teams. There's a lot of talent on both the Angels and the Ducks and they are capable of winning many games and are Championship worthy. It's these bandwagon fans of the OC that get to me. Dont call yourself a fan if you can't even name people on their roster or just because they're winning. Hell, I can probably name more players on the Ducks roster than a lot of people who claim themselves Duck fans at work can.

Okay that's my nerdy sports moment.

Pretty busy Labor Day weekend. Friday, checked out the Pacific Syphony's dress rehearsal at the new concert hall. And although it isn't 100% complete, it looks really beautiful at night. The rehearsal itself was a little boring, in which Karen, Solomon, and I left early. Haha it was funny cuz right before the sympony was going to perform with this opera singer, Solomon's phone went off. And it happened right before the first note, ad the singer was inhaling for his first notes. It was freakin hilarious cuz everyone heard it! Afterwards, we went to Claim Jumper and enjoyed my first Ore Cart. Mmmm...ribs!

Saturday, Tommy and I met up with Belle, Lou, Ry, and Sherwin after their run for lunch at Denny's. Then afterwards, we (minus Tommy) went to check out Belle and Lou's future home. It looks really nice and is coming together pretty quickly. We also checked out some milion dollar model homes in the neighborhood, which made me a lil depressed cuz I don't know if I'll ever own a house. The models looked pretty nice, especially this one with a basement that had a game room and their own home theater room. Pretty damn nice, yet depressing!

Sunday, we all took off to San Diego for Lou's birthday weekend to watch Belle, Lou, Cat, Ryan, Tommy, and John John skydive. Although it was fucking hot, it was pretty cool watching them suit up and drop 13,000 feet to the ground. Pictures to come....

After that just spent the entire weekend chillin...visited Cat Soriano's new place, checked in our hotel at the Embassy Suites, had dinner at the Yard House and met up with Cat, Caren, and some other people, had drinks, walked around Seaport Village, ate at this crappy fish and chips joint, took some pictures, and ate some desserts at Extraordinary Desserts.

Had a lot of fun hanging out with the best people in the whole world. For some reason, I just love getting away and staying at hotels with them. Just a year ago today, we were all in Chicago having a blast. And although we just drove an hour south, it sorta brought some memories of Chicago. Dunno why, its just always good times. From doing stupid stuff like jumping on the bed (pictures to come) to just making fun of Sherwin...all that stuff just creates the best memories you can have with friends. And although not everyone was there, I'm glad I got the chance to spend the weekend with the best friends in the world. Happy Birthday again Lou, and thanks to everyone for a wonderful time!

Pretty busy weekend.

Friday, celebrated Jevon's 27th birthday at his sister's. It was Star Wars themed, so most of us got decked out in Star Wars gear. It was pretty cool, most people got creative in their own way making their costumes. I went in as George Lucas, decked out with a fake beard, flannel shirt, jeans, sunglasses, a fat gut, and a cap. The beard was a little too long, but whatever. Had a lot of fun that night. Here's the picture of Colonel Karen and me...




Happy Birthday again Jevon!

Saturday, Karen and I met up with Lou, Belle, Sherwin, and Ryan for lunch at Wahoo's after their run in Irvine. Then later on that night, my parents came down and we watched this Beatles cover band perform with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra at the Verizon...yes of course for free. It was actually pretty cool, they sounded like them and also acted like them. Now it wasn't like fans screaming at Dodger Stadium and girls throwing their underwear on stage. Instead, we were mostly with the old fogies with their granny pants and Depends. However it was a lot of fun. I found it incredible listening to Beatles music live on stage, instead on a CD for a change. Imagine, hearing "All You Need is Love" performed live with the symphony in the background, with strings and that trumpet solo in the end. It was really awesome. My parents really enjoyed the show, which made me smile. I'd turn to my dad, and he'd be singing along. None of us will ever see the actual Beatles in concert, but this would get as close as it would get. It was cool during 'Hey Jude' when the crowd of over 12,000 whipped out their cell phones and started waving them. It created a cool luminance in the darkened amphitheater. The last song they played was 'Twist and Shout,' the perfect song to end with the crowd dancing and singing along. That night was probably one of the best nights I had with my parents in a long time.

After the show, Karen watched 16 Blocks which we Netflixed. Sunday, kicked it at Son's house for a bit for an afternoon bbq, then hung out with Kristine at night.

Today, my co-worker and I got free LA Times suite tickets to tonight's Dodger game against the Reds, but we both decided not to go. He went to all 3 games of this weekend's Angel/Yankee series and was just tired from all the baseball. So we decided not to go, which was fine since I got to play softball. It might be the last time with my co-workers, since people are going back to school. As a result, the team I played on won, and I finally tasted victory for the first time in softball! Go me!

Crap, just found out today Canon released a couple of new products.

First, is the new Digital Rebel XTi (the 400D).




From Canon's website, this new camera is an upgrade to the Digital Rebel XT (350D) which boasts a new 10 megapixel CMOS center, a 2.5 in LCD screen, a nine area autofocusing system, and a new dust reduction system.

Now I'm currently happy with my XT and its specs, but man, it sucks to invest in something, then a couple of months later a, new upgrade comes out. Damn, technology! Oh well, I still love my camera.

Another thing that came out is the new 70-200mm f/4L IS (Image Stabalizer) lens.



This is gonna make it difficult to purchase my future telephoto lens. According to dpreview.com, this will cost about $1250 when it is released in November. Now, I had my eyes set on the the regular 70-200 f/4L non-IS lens for under $600, but now this bad boy had to come out. What sucks even more is deciding between this or the f/2.8 non-IS version which is just about the same price as well. Hmm...IS vs faster lens. What to do?? I can solve my problems and just get the 70-200mm f/2.8 IS but that sucker costs about $1600.

Damn it! I decided to get f/4L over the 70-300mm IS since the L series is known for its quality, but man now they HAD to come out with a new IS version of the f/4 right before making a purchase. Great...now I have to make ANOTHER decision!

Pretty busy weekend. Friday night, got to hang out with Cicely and Jay. Had dinner and went to the Earth, Wind, & Fire concert at The Verizon. As usual, it was for free. It was a lot of fun, and suprisingly packed. The entire venue was a party, except our area. We had the boring, 'I don't wanna stand up, cuz I'm too cool section.' But still, we had a lot of fun. Thanks for the fun night, guys! And thanks for dinner Jay, even though I was suppose to pay! ('listen to what I say. Why don't just go lay down by the bay, make things out of clay, what do you say?')

Saturday, checked out Wicked at my work again. Karen wanted to see Elphaba's understudy and she sang great. Went to a birthday party afterwards then just chilled for the rest of the night.

Sunday, drove up to visit my parents and to celebrate my mom's birthday. Didn't do much, just ate and did laundry. But as usual, its always fun to see the parents.

Anyhow, I came across someone's blog and found out how much more of an idiot he/she is. Have you seen those spam comments on people's blogs or chat box?? The one's that say,

'Your are Excellent. And so is your site! Keep up the good work. Bookmarked.' - Anonymous.

Haha, this person actually responded to them saying thanks multiple times! Haha, it cracks me up.

'wow. seriously? thanks. i will be sounding repetitious with my comments but is this the same person or another? thank you again!'

Here's another one...

Anonymous said: 'Your site is on top of my favourites - Great work I like it.'

Response: 'thank you! much appreciated keep on reading . . . ! '

Yeah I know, its mean, and yes I'm going to hell. But it's not my fault that this person is such a fuckin 'tard. =)