ID4 at the Rose Bowl

For the past several years, I've spent Independence Day along with 80,000 other people at Disneyland. This year, however, Drum Corps International scheduled an event to add to the Americafest at the Rose Bowl, and the program included ALL of my favorite corps (and none of the ones that irritate me), so I couldn't pass up this chance. I was accompanied by Rudy, Jeff, Bro, V, and Brady. We were especially excited that Brady was joining us, as this would be his first live drum corps event (he's seen DVDs a lot of times, thanks to his daddy). Brady seemed to have started his day in an excited mood, too. When Bro called, I answered the phone, and Brady was on the line, happily saying, "HI!!!" as opposed to the usual silence when he hears me.

We all met up at my house, and drove over to the Rose Bowl in 2 cars, spending most of the car ride in line waiting to get a parking space on the golf course. We all made note of which trees were near our cars (we're by the Sycamore tree, near the one with the red leaves, and up on the hill is the lone pine tree, and there's a break between those thingys). It was a little bit of trek to the gate entrance, but not too bad. As we waited for Recon Rudy to figure out if we were standing in the correct line, people asked us the same question we had. Thank goodness RR had done his job and was able to answer their questions when he returned. When we got through the narrow gate, we asked how to get to our hoity-toity drum corps fan seats, and passed the Blue Devils drum line on the way. Bro kept pointing out the drums to Brady, whom was already smiling and pointing at them. I went to the Academy souvie trailer, and the man from last week remembered me, but hadn't seen anything in their program for me. He did point out the CD liner notes for me, which is fine since I wanted to buy the CD anyway. I also bought an SCV shirt, and decided to get dinner since the lines were still short. I asked Brady if he wanted to walk with me to get food, and he actually said yes, so I took his hand and we bought food from the drum corps fans at the refreshment stand. They asked, "Who are you here to see? BD?" (I was wearing a Blue Devils shirt). I said, "I'm here to see everyone! They're all my favorites!" They seemed as excited as I was.

Our tickets were for Premium GA seating, which was for those people whom were actually there to see the drum corps. The regular GA people were seated at the end of the field, and some people were sitting in the end zone, which made Bro wonder how the corps would deal with that, since the CG usually throws their flags into the end zone, and BD actually starts their show right next to it. I figured that they must have rehearsed on the field earlier that day, but you never know. We were able to get really nice seats, high up (about row 65), and on the aisle in case Brady needed a break. As we waited for the show to start, I reminisced about last year's DCI Finals which had taken place there, and thought of our friend Glenn whom had accompanied me to most of that. I pointed out to Bro that the hash marks were visible on the field, a reference to last year's wackiness.

I was getting really excited, and said, "Brady, Tita Sherry's gonna go CRAZY!!!" He smiled at me and giggled. I also showed him my patriotically painted toes, to which my brother replied by having Brady call me "crazy" in Tagalog. The Academy was already on the field, and when Bro pointed them out to Brady, Brady said, "Same!" Bro asked, "Oh, they're all wearing the same thing?" Brady: "Yeah.... A LOT!!!" Bro: "Oh, there's a lot of them." Brady: "Yeah!" OMG, he is too cute.

The MC from DCI Finals, Dan Potter, was there! Cool! He introduced the guy from CBS news, Paul Magers, who tried to get everyone to take an oath to only watch CBS for news. Dude, whatever. The Presentation of the Colors was led by a bagpipe player performing the Marine Corps anthem. The Academy then played a beautiful rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, which brought tears to my eyes. Then we had a flyby of a C17. That was cool.

Dan Potter introduced all of the drum corps stuff, which made me happy that goofy CBS dude wasn't doing it. This was not a judged event. Each corps played their competitive show, and then played something patriotic in a standstill performance for both the regular and hoity-toity sections. Unfortunately, V had a talker behind her, explaining everything to his companions, whom had apparently never watched drum corps before.

Pacific Crest

Oh! That noise they're making is to emulate a didgeridoo! (Bro, it can be spelled with a G or a J, so we're both right). Well, now, that makes more sense than them trying to sound like a swarm of bees. When the CG was balancing on one leg, Rudy said that they were leaning on their flag poles. Wouldn't they fall down, then? Those aren't sturdy poles. At that point, Brady said, "FLAG!" OMG, I love him. They played the same patriotic medley as they did at Corps at the Crest,which started with "Strike Up the Band." I like that medley.

The Academy

People behind Bro figured that their name was because they were all from some music school. Rudy said that the all-black CG uniforms make them ineffectual. I dare to say that their uniforms are not yet done, since I'm expecting to see something that looks like corsets on the females, and tights and powdered wigs on the males, but that's just me thinking of actual Viennese Mozart time, I guess. The CG dude actually caught his sabre for his big solo toss, probably because his advisors told him to LOOK UP. Brady sang during the show. He also drooled on Bro. I'm guessing he likes this stuff. They played a medley of service songs. (I heard D. Potter say "Surface Songs," and thought they were going to play "Shower Me With Your Love" until I came to my senses).

CBS dude informed us that this would not only be the biggest fireworks display in L.A., but also the largest one west of Chicago. Even bigger than Disneyland?! Wow.

During intermission, or "Intermezzo" as Hoity Toity Recon Rudy called it, a montage was done on the big screen, "Honoring Our Fallen from the San Gabriel Valley." Thank you to all of the servicemen and women whom risk their lives for our country.

Santa Clara Vanguard

V turned to me and said, "Liquid Crack." This is our term for the coffee that made me nutso last week, and also the same drink we thought maybe the CG imbibes before the show. Yay! Their show is complete! There's the viper! Rudy was upset, thought, that he didn't get to yell "Vanguard," because the one guy that said it was premature in his outburst. The last piece, "Cloudburst" by E. Whitacre, sounded really nice! Visually stunning too, with those shiny white flags. I love all of the rain sounds, including those made by some of the CG members, which is done by clapping their hands here, as it is done in the (original) vocal arrangement. Their patriotic tribute was "Shades of Shenandoah," which was beautifully done. I then got a star for remembering that BD's 2003 winning show was "Phenomenon of Cool." (I need all the stars I can get, so I just HAD to commemorate it here).

Phantom Regiment

As predicted, Brady needed to leave at this moment. Thank goodness Bro had been proactive and watched Phregiment at the Vista show yesterday, so that he'd be OK to leave. Jeff took one look at the CG uniforms and wished that we were up closer. Rudy said that the whole DM-holding-the-baton thing is "so stuck up, I love it!" Those shields are cool, but they kinda look like nipples to me when they're above the CG in a group as protection. Not that I normally see that many nipples grouped together like that or anything. I also liked the goosestepping from the corps when they were being the army. Very cool moving cross formation. That slavedriver/overlord/badass/anti-Spartacus dude in black is SCARY. He commands people to kill people, and he also kills them himself! Even the woman. Meanie. That was some cool fighting between the CG and the horns. AWESOME SHOW! "I. AM. SPARTACUS!" (Or, as I heard it the first two times: "Hey! You! Whatcha Got?!" Yes, that's what I actually thought I heard. Perhaps the corps should enunciate the first two times a little bit more). Their patriotic tribute was the "National Emblem" march. Thanks, Phreg, for making it out here to Cali!!! I know the gas prices are making it really hard on their budget, as with all corps, but they traveled the farthest for this show.

Blue Devils

Rudy said that he's gonna get vertigo from watching them try to balance on the lines. (Oh, and that's the corps that played music from "Vertigo" in 2000!). To answer Bro's original question, they actually moved their show 10 yards infield so that they wouldn't run over or throw flags at the people in the end zone. I don't like the final flags. I missed seeing the CG do a reverse pose of the stickman at the end (Rudy told me about it). Their hats are like cats: whenever they fall, they land right side up. Bro thinks they're weighted. Their patriotic tune was "America the Beautiful."

Finale

All 5 corps then played the new rendering of "America the Beautiful" that I don't really like, but at least it had a good sound. Then, as if we were at Finals night, BD and SCV started talking to each other before everyone got situated to watch the fireworks.

CBS dude yelled, "Let's Get Ready to Rumble!" and we did a countdown, which led to absolutely nothing for at least a full minute. Then the fireworks began.

The fireworks took about 40 minutes, and they were quite abundant! The most irritating part was that they lit up fireworks in the shapes of the Channel 2 and Channel 9 logos, which received boos. Even more boos were heard when they had the nerve to show the channel 2 fireworks on the jumbotron. Some of the fireworks designs looked like those from Disneyland's "Remember" fireworks show, like the happy faces and the hearts. I kept turning to Bro, saying, "If they do [insert random Disneyland fireworks show element here] , then we know they stole from DL." Then they'd actually do it. I half-expected the Haunted Mansion stretch room fireworks to appear. I heard later from my friends that the DL show that night was interrupted due to high winds. My conspiracy theory is that they couldn't finish the show because the Rose Bowl stole some of their stuff. Although the show wasn't exactly DL-quality (music in sync with the fireworks), it was a spectacular display, and now Bro wants one of those cannons that shoots a bunch of fireworks like a machine gun.

We had a great time, and actually found our cars by remembering our landmarks. It took us forever to get out due to disorganization and stupidity by people not in our cars, but that was to be expected. Thank you, everyone for a great time, and Congratulations to Brady for watching his first drum corps show! (And he did it without tantrum or accident. I love this child).

Happy Independence Day, everyone.

Let Freedom Ring.

I Heart Steve Carell

This isn't really a secret anyway. A couple of friends already know that I adore this man's characters in practically every show I've seen him. (OMG, in Anchorman: "I love lamp!"). I've loved him since he was a correspondent on The Daily Show. When he and Stephen Colbert were in the same room that I was, I got all geeked out and couldn't stop smiling.

So when I saw that Steve Carell would be playing the character of Agent 86 in "Get Smart," I shouted a triumphant "YES!!!!!" I have always enjoyed the TV series "Get Smart," so being excited about seeing SC in the movie version should be no surprise. I was supposed to go see this movie on opening weekend, but other stuff got in the way, so I was finally able to watch it last night.

My thoughts:

• The theater was full and people were sitting on the floor so that they could sit together instead of away from their parties.
• Loved all the old props, like the cone of silence, the shoe phone, and the little red car, which, of course, had no gas in the tank, since it really should have just been sitting in the museum.
• Anne Hathaway has awesome clothes, even when not wearing Prada.
• Anne Hathaway also has great gams. Wow! The slit on that dress was amazing.
• Loved the Barbara Feldon wig.
• That dance duel was hilarious.
• So was this. Alan Arkin: "Were you thinking, 'Holy S***! Holy S***! Holy S***! A swordfish almost went through my head!'? If so, then yes!"
• Loved the expressions on Bruce's and Lloyd's faces when they were trying to look mean for the cameras.
• Zod/Jor-El is in KAOS!
• Dwayne Johnson is damn manly, and I'd be afraid to piss him off if there was a stapler in the room.
• Bill Murray in a tree. When does Agent 13 get to go to the bathroom?
• Bernie Koppel! The original Siegfried!!! I was sitting next to very young people whom, I think, only laughed at that part because I was so enjoying this cameo that I couldn't stop giggling. Of course, it may have been funny anyway, but I couldn't hear half of what he said because I was giggling so much.
• Where in L.A. is Highway 27?!
• Loved the human touch while Max was dealing with the big Russian KAOS guy.
• I couldn't wait to see whom they got for this part: Hymie. (Played on TV by Dick Gautier). Patrick Warburton is such the perfect casting, as was pretty much the rest of the actors.
• Also loved that the combination to the doors was the theme music to the TV show.

So I was not disappointed at all. I was really happy to see that the movie was dedicated to Don Adams and Edward Platt.

I'll be buying this DVD when it comes out ... and LOVING it. :)

Western Corps Connection 06/29/08

June, 29, 2008

Riverside Community College Wheelock Stadium

It was one of those typical So Cal days in late June -- really hot. So, of course, we had scheduled ourselves to watch drum corps. Outside. In the no shade. So we decided not to get to RCC too early, lest we melt.

Bro figured out this time how to get into the parking structure, so that the car could be in the shade, which, as Bro pointed out, would be oh-so-important for us when we would return to the car at 9:00 at night. Yeah, well, at least we could sit in the shade and mock the dude with the HUGE truck that decided to take up 3 parking spaces, sit around for a few minutes, and inexplicably leave the structure. Or maybe he decided to move it into a more obtrusive spot in the structure. I don't know. My leg was hurting, and I didn't know why.

We arrived at the drum corps souvie trailers, where I could not decide on what clothing to buy. I talked to a guy at the Academy trailer regarding the music for their show. He said that the show is about the two different styles of music that were developing at the same time in Vienna, which is why the dissonance happens. He's going to try to remember to bring a program from their home show on Friday for me, so that I can understand it a little more, since I couldn't findd the info on the website. They should also have their CD available by then, so I'm looking forward to it. I decided to get 2 PC shirts since I couldn't decide, and they were different styles. I'll probably get the SCV shirt next time. Or the BD shirt. Or both. Whatever. I'll have been paid by then. V then decided to wait in the very slow line for shaved ice while Bro purchased a mango slush in a different line, which took him all of 2 minutes.

Our seats were VERY close to the front of the stands, which did not make me happy, because we like to be able to see formations. But that's OK. At least we were surrounded by nice people, and I was able to get nice photos of people's faces.

The Star Spangled Banner was played by a trumpet soloist. I didn't get his name, sorry. After this, some lady walked by with a peacock feather on her head. V asked if I thought she had something to do with PC's Primality show. I certainly hope so. As usual, the announcer for this show talks way too much. Like at one point, we wanted to send each other Air Grams about how we can't stand this guy, and another one telling everyone to stop buying Air Grams so the dude would be quiet.

OK, the show.

Dream (no show info listed in program, nor on their website)

Good solos, especially the screaming sopranos. One of the sops also played instruments in the pit. CG did a good job, too. Lady in back of me: "These kids are good!" Some of them ain't kids age-wise anymore, woman. We were sitting so close that I could hear the annoying photographer say, "Smile, ladies!" to the CG.

Incognito "World of Incognitians" -- Original Music by Incognitus

They all wore masks, except for the drum major. She had worn her mask yesterday, according to V, but I don't know what happened. The program is funny because they don't even provide the names of the staff in there; they used aliases instead. So, of course, the announcer couldn't even specify the DM's name when asking her if her corps was ready. The woman behind me asked if they were going to play "Phantom." All I could think was "I don't know. It's a mystery!" from Shakespeare in Love. I like when all of the corps gathered in front to be loud. CG did a good job. They had big gold flags, which would probably look much prettier at night. I don't like being able to see their Incognito t-shirts under their jackets. Looks tacky to me. The corps needs to be more unison in their dance moves. This is the debut year for this corps, and they seem to have promise. They are part of The Music Life Foundation, which seems to be a good organization for budding musicians. Good luck, Incognito!

Yamato "Mythos" -- collection of compositions by J. Meehan (co-founder of Yamato)

It's weird that we're actually seeing them in June, because we usually have to wait until Finals week to see the Japanese and American counterparts play together. Apparently, they were reinstated this year by DCI, so maybe this is part of the deal. There wasn't any info in the program, so I didn't understand if the big tridents were supposed to make the CG guys into Triton or the devil. Their website shows that the show is about Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, so I'll pick Poseidon. I liked watching the marimba player on the left side because she was really into the music.

Blue Devils B -- "Flight" Repertoire: Taxi & Take Off, Through the Night, Turbulence/Turbine, Final Approach & Landing by J. Meehan & J. Mackey

Bro thought that if I had seen this yesterday, I would have said, "This is the B corps?!" They really did well. Oh! Wings! Because it's about flight! I like the blue/magenta/yellow flag. I also like the drum feature, especially the multi-tenors. Sounding good, BDB!

Velvet Knights -- "The Inferno" Repertoire: Music by J.S. Bach, Verdi, M. Jackson, F. Sinatra, G. Bizet, H. Berlioz, A. Dvorak, C. Matsen and R. Hinshaw

They started off by bringing the DM onto the field in New Orleans Jazz Funeral-style, carrying him on their shoulders. They all had cool Converse sneakers. I liked the "Strangers in the Night/Carmen" love song, and the CG leads did a good job with their wacky pas de deux. Loved seeing the whole corps dancing during "Thriller." The black roses in the teeth was a nice touch. The lead multi-tenor player looked scary, and I'm not sure if that was intentional, but he really looked like he could be one of those scary people from the old movies. Their sound was very good. They held up a "... to be continued ..." sign at the end. V said that yesterday, they also held up a sign saying "maybe." So ... maybe not? Or was that also a tribute to "Thriller"? Great show!

Mystikal -- "Progression" Repertoire: Harm's Way, Distance to the Sun, At the End of the Day, The Great Nothing, Thoughts, Part 2 by Spock's Beard

The CG uniforms, props, and insides of their skirts were so bright that V couldn't hear me. The CG had a vertical line drawn down the middle of each of their faces, which reminded me of Ross' quarter trick from "Friends." Ummm... people ... you shouldn't be afraid of catching your own rifle that YOU tossed! It's too bad that they lost 2 horns last week, because they're already small. They had more drums and CG than horns (only 7 now). This corps is always small, but they're also always ambitious. Now if we could get the CG to be more aggressive with their props, they could be much better.

Impulse -- "The Game" Repertoire: Three Worlds by J. Meehan

Wow. John Meehan was busy this year.

The CG started playing kids' games like hopscotch and London Bridge before competition started. I want to feed that CG guy some cake. WAY too bony. Their show is not finished. V doesn't get what the music has to do with games. Perhaps if they finished their show, we could understand. Why was that one CG gal wearing sunglasses and nobody else was? What makes her so special?

Gold -- "29,029 Feet -- Everest" Repertoire: Ice Fall, Valley of Silence, Death Zone, The Summit

I guess they don't want me to know who wrote this music. Too bad. They don't have the gold buttons on the corps uniforms anymore, and now have a blue braided sash instead. I liked all of the imagery with the climbing, especially when the CG was climbing on each other. I was afraid that someone would get accidentally strangled or hang themselves with the rope, though. I didn't see anyone in the CG that I had met a couple of years ago. Maybe they're in other corps now.

INTERMISSION

Rudy and Jeff had entered the stands somewhere between the corps above, but V and I wanted to get to the restroom before the line got long, and we succeeded. Then my new drum corps friend Mike called, so we went to meet up with him at the SCV souvie trailer. We also met his friend, whose son had just been given a free practice pad. Cool! We said hi to Rudy when we got back, and he later informed me via text that the guy in back of him was a blabbermouth know-it-all. I had been envious of Rudy's better seat placement until that bit of information.

Mandarins

They sounded much better than the day before! I liked the low brass/high brass contrast. They didn't have those blue/burnt orange flags yesterday. You know that I would have remembered that. I don't know what those hangy things are in the pit, but I LIKE 'em! I like the smile on that CG guy. Very nice horn sound.

Pacific Crest

Those feathers are growing on me. I mean, not literally growing, but I'm starting to actually like them. i remembered to cheer for Maria this time. I like those bright yellow flags, and I really like their sound. Go, marimbas, go! The primal guttural sounds coming from the corps are cool, too.

At this point, someone looking very much like Kenji appeared on the steps by Bro. He was wearing a Vanguard shirt, and was with a blonde woman. This totally distracted us as we wondered if it was our 1999 SCV Championship winning friend from the Best Year (in our drum corps fandom) Ever.

The Academy

Hmmm... I didn't enjoy their sound that much today. I kept wondering what was wrong, because it sounded a lot muddier than last night. Perhaps we were close enough now to hear the errors, I don't know. I hope that they can improve by Saturday, when the brass judge is added.

They also didn't do that cymbal headchopper move.

What happened? I was disappointed, because I was really looking forward to Rudy freaking out about the music, and he didn't.

Santa Clara Vanguard

Finish your show!!!! Or do what Bro says and play the first part backwards once you're done with the normal way. I liked seeing the cymbals going all nuts at one point. I missed taking a picture of the Kodak moment, and this was probably my best chance. Oh well. I like those white flags a lot.

Blue Devils

VERY nice! AWESOME music, visuals, everything. Or what Rudy said: "That was sick." In a good way. I like when the guys hold up their foot before catching their rifle. I really do like this show.

While the scores were being tabulated, Bro yelled, "Kenji!" and the guy turned around, so we went up to him to catch up. It was nice to see him, and I took a pic of him and girlfriend Liz to send to Angela, his high-school sweetheart. In turn, he'll get a link to Ang's pic with new baby Tyler.

SCORES

All-Age

68.0 Dream

Open

55.60 Mystikal

56.40 Incognito

61.30 Gold

64.10 Yamato

66.60 Velvet Knights

74.50 Blue Devils B

World

68.90 Academy

70.00 Mandarins

72.60 Pacific Crest

80.20 Santa Clara Vanguard

82.20 Blue Devils

Encore

BD was told "the field is yours," and the man behind Bro said, "Do they get to take the field home, too?" Cute.

The pit ensemble played a really cool piece that featured the marimbas, drum kit and tympani. Then the bass lead yelled, "Blue Devils Contra Line: Bring It Down, Baby!" and the corps did their F-tuning thing. Yay! F-tuning! They then played excerpts from their show. I was disappointed that they didn't play the whole thing, and I would have loved to hear them play their anthem, since PC had done much more the night before. Rudy got all confused when I kept saying what PC did, and I had to explain to him that the encores are pre-set, so it's not always the winner from that night's show. We saw Mike and I introduced him to the guys, then made our way home.

Drum Corps mania has surely begun. I'm having withdrawals from not seeing a show for 5 days. Tonight should be fun at the Rose Bowl!

Random Sherry Quote of the Day

July 3, 2008:

"I lost my hot dog a long time ago."

Corps at the Crest 6/29/08

Walnut, CA -- June 29, 2008
Mt. San Antonio College Hilmer Lodge Stadium

This was my first viewing of a drum corps competition this season. As with all other DCI reviews, I will only give the program information for each corps upon first viewing.

I wasn't able to get to the stadium for the entire show due to another obligation, but arrived during Velvet Knights' performance after almost running over one of the jaywalking corps members dressed all in black. From what I could see and hear from the sidelines, they have an enjoyable show, and sound good. I entered the stadium itself at intermission, and Tim was going the other way, so I wasn't able to say hi to him. Bro didn't see me when I tried to sibling-mild-meld him to look at me, but at least we touched base via cell phone.

My seat was 12 rows higher than those of Tim's and Bro's, as I was in the PC donor block. I was in the 25th row, about the 40 yard line. I guess the box office didn't sell my extra ticket, so V was able to sit with me the whole time. That was good, because I was still a little hyper from the strong coffee I had in the morning, and I don't know what I would have done with myself without someone to talk to the whole time.

All corps that performed after the intermission were in the newly-entitled "World Class" category.

Mandarins: "The River" Repertoire: Wind River (I Am) by J. Curiale, Cajun Folk Songs by F. Ticheli, Sunrise (from Grand Canyon Suite) by F. Grofe, Inferno by R.W. Smith

Bro really liked the Drum Major's (DM) name: Santiago Sabado. Their duet needs work on the intonation. Color Guard (CG) solos were good, but they had no unison when they tried to do anything simultaneously. I like the last piece -- they sounded good and loud. I like the blue/gold/white flags, which remind me of a river, and now I'm thinking that those might still be practice flags because I feel like I've seen them before. Whatever. They were nice. BTW, why is "Wind River" the only title up there that actually has anything to do with an actual river, the name of the show? No Taiko drums this year. Bummer.

The guys behind us then started talking about my alma mater. I think they were commenting on the tremendous number of people in the AHS marching band.


The Academy: "Vienna Nights" Repertoire: 1. Freud's Dream, Mozart's Theme, Variation -- Quasi Presto, 2. Cafe life, Gallop, 3. Notturno, Finale Alla Turka by P. Wilby

They already started waltzing before the competition started. At one point, the cymbal players dance with the CG -- nice! Awesome accelerando in the first piece. CG needs work on their unison. Actually, all of the visual needs work, but this corps' mission is to educate the music first and foremost, so that's understandable. I do like that maneuver that looks like a reverse Z Pull, though, and the cymbal players do a modified Viper at the end of the show. You can tell that their music is important to them, because, as usual, it is AMAZING, especially those sixteenth-note runs. Or are those thirty-second-notes? Goodness gracious! I do like the dissonance of the pieces: it reminds me, in a good way, of Charles Ives, and ends up providing a nice relief of the tonal chords toward the end of the show. V enjoyed the hint of darkness from the basses as the trumpets had their ensemble solo. You can hear the Phregiment influence there. Their marimbas absolutely ROCK! Rudy is going to freak out when he sees/hears this show.


Pacific Crest "Primality: The Rituals of Passion" Repertoire: Crossing the Bridge, Village Attack and Fall of Freetown (from Blood Diamond) by J.N. Howard, I Remember and Raisuli Attacks (from The Wind and The Lion) by J. Goldsmith

WHAT are they wearing?!

I like the opening rhythm, and they have a very nice sound. I was distracted by the purple hair thing that a CG dropped on the field. (I kept worrying that someone would trip on it). I like the singing and sitting from the corps during the duet, which was very nice itself. I thought at one point that the cymbal line was going to run into the CG gal, but phew! Nice bass drum ensemble solo. I thought that the gal playing the small bass drum was the same gal that called me for my donation earlier this year, so I cheered for her without a name. It turns out that I was supposed to be rooting for Maria, the mellophone player. Well, the bass drum gal rocked, anyway. Bro said, and I agree, that the music in this program is a bit too simplistic, and needs to be kicked up a notch. They do sound great with what they've done so far,though.


Santa Clara Vanguard: "3hree Mind - Body - Soul" Repertoire: The Chairman Dances by J. Adams, The Man in the Bath by P. Glass, Eclipse by T. Singh, Cloudburst by E. Whitacre

I pointed out a male CG dude's skinniness to V, and she likened him to a Stick Man, and half-expected him to do the Chaplin walk. Before the competition began, one of the CG gals was all pumped up and excited, and the dude in back of me said, "She's gonna use up all of her energy before the show starts." Apparently, this was just a hint of what was to come in the frenzied show. The entire CG started to shake, leading me to believe that they all had the jitters from my coffee today. I mean, they were, like, spastic. The maneuvers of the corps were amazingly done, some of them reminiscent of 1999's Canyon. Hey! That's the Vanguard Shield! Very cool CG. They had a few drops, but the solos at the beginning were awesome when done simultaneously with the muted trumpet blasts. I did like the muted trumpet ensemble itself, too. Nice Kodak moment of the lone SCV member in front as the corps did another formation. Cool moment of the bass dancing with the CG member. Those drums are really yellow-goldish. Bright! Awesome drum feature, BTW. Great sound, although I wonder what happened with the amps during the marimba solo. The show is not finished (we didn't see a Viper, nor did they play "Cloudburst" -- which leads me to believe that it'll end calmly), but from what they've shown so far, this show is going to put them in the top 5 this year, if not make them champions. Yeah, I'm a huge SCV fan, so I always hope for the top, but I can't help but love this show. We were on the edge of our seats for the entire thing. It is tighter than tight.


Blue Devils: "Constantly Risking Absurdity" Repertoire: Line Fifteen: and other high theatrics Serenada Schizophrana and Pianos by D. Elfman, Line Twenty-Five: where Beauty stands and waits I Will Wait For You by M. Legrand, Line Thirty-Two: spreadeagled in the empty air of existence The Untouchables and The City of Prague by E. Morricone



I tell ya, the CG looks like a bunch of Big Stick Popsicles. And you can see the male CG's belly buttons. So they're Big Sticks with Belly Buttons. The corps itself has changed their plumes to what look like white feather dusters. I now understand that they're supposed to look like a circus ringmaster's outfit, because their coats have half of ringmaster's coattails. I love that visual, BTW, especially when they're moving around or the wind blows or whatever, because the lining is white, and their coats are black. Nice effect. The CG brought in a bunch of white poles, which at first were used as balance poles in a tightrope walk prior to the start of competition. What are those little drums that they used before the CG carried the multi-tenors for them? Wow -- they're RUNNING! How do those poles (now on the ground) not get kicked around more with all of the maneuvering around them? That's tricky! At one point, they used the poles (and a circle) to form a Stick Man. This had me laughing hysterically when they all started to do the Chaplin walk (see above in SCV). I mean, EVERYBODY did the Chaplin walk. Even the snare drummers during their ensemble solo. It was AWESOME. Awesome sound, very nice visuals, beautiful solos (especially the ballad). They do Elfman well. Bro didn't like the slow-mo at the end, though, because he thought it happened too soon after Crown's performance last year. Apparently, Tim's friend Mike thought that the CG looked like Big Sticks, too. You see? I'm NOT alone in this! It takes 4 people to take that circle off the field. That must be a pain. Great show, BD. I LOVE those coats!!!



FINALE

Horn players from Pacific Crest, Blue Devils B and Velvet Knights formed an arc around the drum corps leaders for the awards ceremony.


Scores:


All-Age Corps

68.875 -- Dream


Open Class

53.2 -- Incognito (they even wear masks for awards)
55.2 -- Mystikal
59.5 -- Impulse
60.4 -- Gold
65.4 -- Velvet Knights (nice "Thriller" moves for the salute!)
65.6 -- Yamato
73.7 -- Blue Devils B


World Class

69.0 -- Mandarins
69.6 -- Academy (69 of that must have been for music)
71.7 -- Pacific Crest
79.5 -- Santa Clara Vanguard
81.9 -- Blue Devils


The combined horn line was conducted by Pacific Crest's Drum Major, Zach Headon. They played some new arrangement of "America the Beautiful," which started with "Auld Lang Syne" and contained bits of other patriotic songs. I want to say that it's going to get better with more experienced corps playing together, but Bro has no such high hopes. It seems DCI is still struggling to find a suitable replacement for "America/O Canada" from years ago.

Pacific Crest had an encore performance. They played something that will probably be done on Friday for Independence Day: a patriotic medley that began with "Strike Up the Band." They then played their show at stand still, and I really like their sound. The show ended with the corps' anthem "Ave Maria."


That was a really cool show, which contained NO NARRATION from the World Class Corps, and I'm quite happy about that. I can't wait until later today!

All About Eve

I'm watching "All About Eve" for the first time today. I just have to share my favorite line so far: "...because she's a wardrobe woman, and next to a tenor, the touchiest person in show business is a wardrobe woman."

Oh, the tenors in my life, I love you anyway. :)

Rogue Robots in Love

I saw WALL-E last night with several friends at the El Capitan in Hollywood. Some thoughts:

• The opening scrim prior to the previews is new, complete with broadway-type lights and a nighttime Hollywood backdrop.
• Dog movie I don't want to see: "Beverly Hills Chihuahua"
• Dog movie I'm looking forward to seeing: "Bolt"

Pre-Show:

• The dancers dressed all in white reminded me of a Color Guard. Perhaps I have drumcorps on the brain, but they really did remind me of the Glassmen, because of their matching hair. I liked all of their props.
• Nobody freaked me out with bad singing, as the music was all from the original scores.
• Stitch's head is small in real life.
• There wasn't enough clapping for the classics, except for Jiminy Cricket. He got more applause than Mickey, even. Since the movie was Pixar, there was much more applause for those clips, although The Lion King did get quite a rousing ovation.

Short "Presto":

• "That's your dog!" -- Sherry, to Bro and V
• Feed the Rabbit
• I wish they had a plush of that bunny inside either one of the hats, with a carrot in his mouth.

Movie "WALL-E":

• I caught a couple of Pixar references, like the Toy Story alien cup by the cockroach's snack.
• The message of this movie hit like a ton of bricks: we'd best stop the trash-making, or our home will become a place where robots are in charge and we're consuming nothing but soda and cupcakes and becoming fatter and lazier.
• Loved the "2001: A Space Odyssey" references.
• John Ratzenberger got to use his own name for his character.
• Eve has a temper. Do not mess with her, or she'll shoot you.
• WALL-E wants to hold hands at inappropriate times.
• Without that fire extinguisher, the Earth would still be a desolate place, and the cockroach would still be by himself.
• I realized that I've never actually seen "Hello, Dolly" and need to do so.
• Rubik's Cube, a VHS tape and Pong? What YEAR is this?

I really enjoyed this movie, and will probably be buying one of those little WALL-E robots, although I didn't last night. I did add to my collection of El Capitan marquee pins, though.

Wedding Dance is the Right Stuff

OK, it's just New Kids day, I guess.

This video was actually referred to by Donnie on the New Kids blog. I LOVE that he posted about it, and if you're a NKOTB fan, or at least remember the Right Stuff video, you'll love this.

Enjoy.

New Kids On The Block - Summertime

WHOO HOOOO!!!! New Kids are going to be in L.A. at the Staples Center for 2 dates, and I'll be going with my friend (and fellow Pella fan) Aura.

She never had the chance to see The Kids wayback in the wayback machine, and I've missed my first male quintet obsession, so we're going to go CRAZY.

I already went nutso watching this video the other day, so this will be way fun.

I just ordered our tickets today, and I'm keeping my theory that Ticketmaster is The Devil.

Looking forward to blogging about the whole experience.

AAAHHHHHH!!!! N E W K I D S!!!!!!

OK, gonna go breathe now. I have a 5 month wait. Maybe I'll take Angela up on that offer and go to Dallas in October. ;)

Six Percent Alcohol by Volume

I'm dog sitting for Bro while the rest of my family is up in NorCal this weekend. Specific instructions have been left for me, and I've mostly followed them to the letter, so the dogs and I are doing quite well. I'm sure that they'd spend more time outside if it wasn't over 100 degrees, but that's OK. I don't have the courage or the energy to take out both of them by myself, lest they take charge and I end up running all over Corona trying to catch up with them.

Last night, my friends Rudy and Jeff came over to play "Rock Band" for their first time. I had purchased some Bacardi Mango Mojitos for us, since you can't really have a true rock band without some kind of drink. Well, you could, but not the kind of bands that you'd be emulating for this game. After some snacking and catching up, we got to work on the game.

First, we had to choose a band name, and we naturally chose "Mojito." Unfortunately, there was another band with this name online, but we didn't plan on registering anyway. We also chose our own names. We decided to make Jeff (the guitarist) "c.k." as we had deemed him a type of superhero this weekend for reasons outside this post. If you can't figure out c.k., then I don't want to help you, because then you'll find out someone's secret identity. ;) Rudy (on drums) decided that he wanted to be a female, and named himself "Tiger Pansy." I don't think I'll ever forget this name, since he yelled it about 55 times during the evening. If we had the time, we probably would have just changed our band name to Tiger Pansy, but we had too much stuff to do, and not enough time to do it. I stuck with my Spyral avatar from my other band, and decided that I had been stolen by Mojito for some gigs while my regular band was on vacation. Well, they WERE taking time off, and I needed money for clothes!

We had some trouble getting started, since I had two people to train, and hadn't played enough myself to remember all of the components at once. Heck, I had enough trouble trying to hook up everything and remember to turn on the instruments. Jeff didn't think that he was quite getting the hang of the guitar, and Rudy was having WAY too much fun with the drums, so I became c.k. and Jeff was Spyral for the rest of the evening. We ended up doing quite well that way (we were on the Easy setting for quite awhile), and made enough money to purchase some better clothing for our avatars.

I gotta tell ya, it's a lot of fun fake shopping with a couple of gay guys, especially for rock outfits! We also ended up making up a band logo, and a quote, shown in the title above. Rudy did end up finally yelling out "Mojito!" instead of just his own name. We got so involved in all of the rockin' that our arms ached at the end of the evening, and Rudy, especially, sweated up a storm. I laughed every time I took a look at him and his increasingly wet shirt. Perhaps I'll practice on the drums tomorrow as a workout session.

Thanks, Tiger Pansy and c.k., for your company this evening, and for all the fun. May Mojito rock on fashionably forever!

Father's Day Weekend 2008

Bro and family will be moving to AZ this summer, so I'm trying to spend as much time with them as I can before that.

I returned from my last Leadership Academy week on Friday night, and went to their place for dinner. When I arrived, V had not yet come home with our Vietnamese food (mmm...pho), but Bro and Brady were still home. As the dogs did their standard greeting of barking and jumping on me, and Bro did his standard greeting of "Cadence! Presto! Back UP!," I said hi, and Brady looked at me, smiled, and said, "Tita!" Aw, it warms the heart. He walked over to me as I was trying to calm down the dogs, and somehow handed me something. When the dogs finally left me alone, and I could look at it in the light, I realized that it was a miniature Pez with a blue animal on it. I asked, "What is this? Is this a crocodile? What is this, Brady?" He said, "Hippo." OK, so now the boy has said my name AND the word "hippo" in one night. I was way pleased. Bro was surprised. Apparently, Brady had not only remembered that V had told him to give me the hippo the next time he saw me, but this was also the first time that Bro had heard him say "hippo." Our food was yummy, and afterward, Bro found out that he could download some Jimmy Buffett songs on Rock Band. He sight read the expert level of a couple of songs, and his performance was QUITE impressive. Those songs were not easy, I can tell you that. Gotta get him to download more RUSH, if it's available.

On Saturday, I met up with them and my parents at Huntington Beach, where a friend of the family was celebrating their son's graduation from high school. It was a beautiful day to be at the beach, and Brady spent much of the afternoon laying down on his tummy, directly on the sand. I asked him if he was going to swim right there, and he proceeded to move his arms around as if he was doing the breast stroke. Yes, in the sand. Crazy boy. Whenever I'm at the beach, I miss my college days, when my roommates and I lived on Balboa Island and could just walk to the ferry and hang out on the beach. I only wish that I'd still look good in a bikini. Then maybe I could swim in the sand with Brady, and be covered in sand. At least on my front.

For Father's Day, we all met up at Bro's house, and Dad was happy with the Kobe Bryant MVP shirt that he received. We had lunch at Johnny Carino's Italian Restaurant. They serve their bread with oil in roasted garlic chips. OMG, that's yummy! My pecan-crusted salmon salad was tasty, although it had a little bit too much lemon in the vinaigrette. Afterward, we went to Sports Chalet and Brady tried out the little putting green with a golf club that was just his size. As with all sports involving balls, he loved it, and Bro and V decided to buy the golf club and a practice green. Brady had a meltdown, though, because they told him that they weren't going to buy the golf ball. They have plenty of home, since Bro and V play golf themselves, but apparently he wanted the exact one that he had used in the store. The crying didn't really stop until we were able to leave, but at least they didn't give in and buy yet more golf balls. I didn't stay to see the happy ending, but he doesn't usually cry for very long.

I hope that everyone had as nice a FD weekend as we did.

You Don't Mess With the Big Green Guy

I saw two movies this week, which were very different in genre. Or "gendre" as someone I know would pronounce. ;)

You Don't Mess With the Zohan
I went to see this after a long day of class, and my friend and I needed some mindless entertainment. It was just a lot of silliness, but we had a good time. I heard that some theaters weren't letting anyone under 15 into the theater due to a lot of sexual ... um ... motions. So why didn't they just make it rated "R"? I guess it didn't have quite enough actual sexual activity, and a lot of it was obstructed due to the camera angles. Whatever. It was silly and fun, but not something I suggest for everyone.

The Incredible Hulk
I really liked this movie a lot. I didn't see the movie that was in theaters a few years ago because the sloppy CGI in the trailers turned me off. This movie, though, had great sound and visual effects. I also enjoyed the storyline of the tortured soul of David Banner. That was always the reason that I liked the TV series, although I don't remember specific episodes. I wish they'd put these on the air so that I could watch them again. I also loved the references to the TV series in the score, the cameo, and in the television set. I think that Bill Bixby would have been proud of the way Edward Norton played this version of their mutual alter egos. I liked Liv Tyler, also, but in every movie I see her (except the Lord of the Rings trilogy, where she's supposed to be ethereal anyway), I keep wanting her to speak up or make the tone of her voice deeper.

Due to the makeup and facial hair, I didn't recognize William Hurt until he actually spoke. This is an especially funny fact if you've read one of my earlier posts. No, I never thought that he was Jeff Bridges/Daniels, or Bill Pullman: I just couldn't think of who the actor was, and it bugged me until I heard his voice. I also loved RDJ's cameo, and I look forward to watching more movies that will introduce The Avengers. Oh, I also liked the opening credits, which referred to Stark Industries and S.H.I.E.L.D. Stan Lee makes an appearance in this movie, of course, and now I wonder what's to become of that old man that drank the soda. Hmmm....

If I were to choose only one of the above, I'd choose the Big Green Guy. He's just awesome, and he's got what Cindy likes to call "Magic Pants." How can you go wrong with Magic Pants?! Especially when his voice is Lou Ferrigno's?! I mean, Zohan's huge crotch can't possibly compare to those pants.

Rockapella, LIVE -

Mmmmm...my favorite part of "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" has been posted by the official site. PAPA!!!!!!

Girls Day with the UCI Roomies II

Jen had another free day, so we went back to l.a. vie. I had my nails done (my toes were already pretty), and the other three gals had pedicures. I had requested a "Natural Nail" treatment, which consists of a seaweed scrub and paraffin wax, so my hands were wrapped in hot towels and plastic, which would have been OK, had there not been a delicious, fresh-baked chocolate chunk cookie placed in front of me. I was able to enjoy it later with the refreshing hibiscus tea. They had also spread out brunch items such as cheese/crackers/meats, and some yogurt. If you're there on one of the specials days, brunch items are included with your treatment. On other days, there's just the cookies and drinks, but it's still very nice.

In the cabana next to me was some woman that I couldn't see from my vantage point. She was with her two little girls, whom were adorably dressed as if they had just gone to church, or maybe they were going to a party, because when the woman stood up, her attire did not look at all like something you would wear in a place of worship. My goodness. A gorgeous man came into the salon to talk to her, and my manicurist mentioned that they are a beautiful couple. All I could see was that he looked like he was probably a model. Well, then the woman was done, and she got up to go (in 5-inch high heels, nonetheless, if not more than that), and Jennifer noted that the woman was, indeed, a celebrity. I don't remember her name even though Jennifer told me 3 times, but apparently she was a Playboy Bunny, and used to be married to Lorenzo Llamas. I wanted to shove a few of those cookies in her mouth. She was too skinny, but we felt very much L.A. at the moment.

After our nails were dry, we went to lunch at Barefoot on 3rd Street. They were serving brunch, which made me happy since I love breakfast. Apparently an incident occurred between a family and one of my friends while I was in the restroom, and my friend advised me that the woman was using her child's stroller as a battering ram. The host asked if we'd like to sit in the patio near that baby, or on the other patio, and I jokingly said, "Well, since the mother tried to kill my friend with her stroller, we'd prefer to sit on the other side." One of the servers nodded at me told me it was a good choice. I guess that the father either overheard us, or the server advised him about my comment, because he walked over to us to check if everything was OK. So I had embarrassed my friends again. Ah, the joys of being in my presence! :) We noted to each other that only in L.A. are the waiters gorgeous enough to be models. I mean, DAMN.

We sat at our table and were given a little bread basket with tasty loaf-type bread slices inside. I ordered Healthy Joe's Scramble, comprised of egg whites, ground turkey, spinach, mushrooms and onions, and it came with O'Brien potatoes and toast. It was delicious, and I now want this for breakfast EVERY Sunday. Of course, that's not actually going to be possible, given the fact that I'd need to drive to L.A. for that, but perhaps I can make my own recipe. One of the Jens asked what "O'Brien potatoes" are, and the other Jen just told her they were Irish. We're very helpful gals.

Christine also opted for breakfast, and had the cheese omelet with goat cheese and...mushrooms? I can't remember what else was in there. The Jens each ordered salad, because their favorite types were on the menu. Jennifer ordered the chopped cobb, and Jen ordered the chinese chicken salad, stating that the cashews made it very tasty. We all enjoyed our meals very much, and were quite glad that we had chosen that particular patio because the baby was not in the happiest of moods. When we retrieved our car from the valet, the family was also getting in their car and further annoyed us by taking way too much time and blocking our way out.

After a few wrong turns due to my directions being in the other car, we went to MILK. Although a gracious friend had brought over some of their delicious desserts for me just last week from being there for the restaurant's special event, I really wanted to share the place with these gals. They weren't as nutso as I was about everything there, but that's OK. I had the Banana Dulce De Leche ice cream, which was splendid. I also ordered a couple of pastries to go, and was amazed that the ice cream they gave me survived all the way back to my house, thanks to the ice pack in the bag.

We had another wonderful day, even though I ruined the polish on my nails before brunch ended. Thanks for the decadent day, ladies!

BASIL

A couple of weeks ago, V and I decided to try out a Thai restaurant that I had been eyeing for awhile. V loves Thai food, so I thought that she'd be a great person to help me check out the place.

BASIL is a small restaurant, located in a building that houses several other businesses/restaurants. I've seen the place when I was actually going to one of the other restaurants that use the same parking lot. As we walked inside, we could pretty much see the entire restaurant, including all of the seating and the kitchen. The walls are steel-colored with maple-colored wood designs. The seating is also of wood, and along with small tables, they also have bar-type seating, which isn't actually up against a bar, but you would sit by your companions side-by-side instead of facing them directly. The bar is also in kind of a curve instead of straight across. I wasn't able to have time to read the entire article that was posted on the wall, but it seems that the restaurant's decor was featured in some kind of architectural magazine.

The server was very friendly, and there weren't many people eating there at the time we went, which was a weeknight, so I'm hoping that they get more business on the weekends.

V and I tend to order the same dish whenever we try out new Thai restaurants, which is something that has basil in it. She ordered the Pad Kra Prow with tofu, which was sauteed with fresh green chili, garlic and fresh basil leaves. I also had a similar dish, but with chicken. The server asked if we wanted our dishes served over rice, and we said "YES!" Both of our dishes were spicy, which we both enjoyed. There was a good amount of chicken/tofu in our dishes, and the onions/vegetables were in a good ratio with the meat. V also ordered the Tom Yum soup with chicken, and she was so happy with it that she finished her entire individual-sized bowl. She was worried that she ate so much that she wouldn't be able to finish her main dish, and she was right. That didn't stop me, however, from ordering us dessert: Fried Banana.

If you know me and my desserts, you know how much I LOVE banana in them. This banana was fried in some breading that had a hint of coconut, and the banana was just the right consistency that I love, as it about melted in my mouth. Mmmmm....

I went back there last week to obtain a copy of their takeout menu, and while I was there, I just HAD to order dinner and dessert for myself. The server had remembered me from the week before, and now she probably expects to see me every week. ;) This time I had V's dish with chicken instead, and also ordered more bananas. I saved half of my meal for another day, and am happy to say that the fried banana still had the right consistency after I heated it up in the oven. Oh, and when I brought the banana home, I put some vanilla bean ice cream on the side, and it was way yummy.

The menu has 74 items, including appetizers, soup, salad, entrees, vegetable dishes, noodle dishes, rice dishes, and dessert. Entree prices start at $7.25. The restaurant does not have a website. If you enjoy Thai food, and you're in the Arcadia area, check it out!

BASIL Thai Cooking
411 East Huntington Dr Suite 103
Arcadia, Ca 91006
(626) 447-8845

Wentworth Miller - That Cat is High

Happy Birthday to my Other Man, Wentworth Miller! The music for this montage is actually Wentworth and the rest of the Tigertones from Princeton.

What A Way to Start the Day

I'm watching my favorite movie, "Shakespeare in Love," this morning as I get ready for another Girls' Day with the former roommates. I only wish that our appointment was just 30 minutes later, so that I could finish watching it on WGN. Not that I can't just whip out the DVD and watch it later. Like, in French.

This is just a quick post to give a belated greeting to my man:
Happy Birthday, Joseph!!!


Yumminess.

One of my favorite lines in the movie, en Francais:
Je ne sais pas. C'est un mystere!

Spellerrific

I'm absolutely loving the contestants in the National Spelling Bee. They're not only amazing spellers, but they're funny, too. Thoughts as I watch the program:

• My favorite line : (after hearing audience laughter when the word was first announced) "numb nuts?" ...much more laughter.... (after he is advised to listen to the word again) "Ohhhh! Numnah!"
• "Oh, Nietzschean!" (I'm sorry that she's out. She was funny. When she was reminded to look at the clock as she was running out of time, she said, "Yes, that's a very pretty clock.")
• The gal with the curly hair had a hilarious look of happiness on her face when she knew the word, but asked for more hints anyway.
• The Asian kid sounded like he was drugged or something, and I kept thinking that he wouldn't get the words, but he did just fine. Maybe hewas on Spellling Steroids.
• I'm always amazed by the very gentle "ding" of the bell that signifies that the word was spelled wrong. It so politely tells them that their dream has just been squelched by one letter. Ah, memories of spelling "vacuum" with 2 "c"s and only one "u," and hearing the disappointment of my entire grade as I became only the Honorable Mention instead of the winner. I'll never forget that moment as long as I live. Go ahead. Ask me when I'm senile. I dare you.
• So I'm trying to spell these obscure words without looking at the TV, and when I do look at the TV, I realize that I'm WAY off. Makes me kinda glad that I didn't win the school spelling bee, in order to avoid a humiliating experience on a larger scale.
• ...although, hello, I spelled "Kulturkampf" correctly.
• Yay, SAMIR!!!! From "numb nuts" to the end, you certainly deserve that "guerdon"!!! What a perfect word to end the bee.

The Rivalry is Born Again!

Yeee HAAAAAA!!!!!

It's going to be Lakers vs. Celtics for the NBA Championship title!

This is what I sooooooo wanted to happen.

Go, Lakers, GO!!!!

Kobe, Lamar, Derek, Luke, Pau, Sasha, Vlad, Jordan, Ronny, and the rest of the club: BELIEVE!!!!




from Lakers.com

Rockapella promo DVD

Pella has updated their promotional material, so I think it belongs on this page, too. I mean, duh. It's PellaPushing!!!!

Oh, and....rumor has it that we're getting a new CD this year. Yeah, I know, it's been rumored before, but this is word from the sales department, apparently. Keep your fingers crossed!

DLR LotD 05/25/08

Disneyland Resort Line of the Day
Sunday, May 25, 2008

"This is on the house." -- Linda, at Small World Mall

InJ IV

I wasn't able to go with some of my friends that watched the 12:01 a.m. showing of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," but I didn't want to wait much longer, so I saw the movie this afternoon as soon as I got back to town. While I was getting my concessions, someone that I sing with at church spotted me, so we ended up sitting by each other, which also ended up being in a row right below other people he knew, but didn't know were going to be there either. It was a 4:45 p.m. showing on a Thursday, so the theater wasn't quite full, but there were plenty of people there.

At first, I was worried that it would not live up to be as great as the other Indy movies, but as the movie went along, I was quite pleased with the result.

Comments:

Cate Blanchett is quite the formidable villain here. I loved the contrast of her eye color against the black hair. Not only is she smart, she's also quite the fighter, and WANTS TO KNOW. I'll let you all figure out exactly what she wants to know. Then maybe you can tell me. Did she just want to know absolutely everything in the universe? If so, then she's just nosy.

Shia LaBoeuf did a great job in his role, and I remember him talking about his acquired switchblade skills when he was on Late Night with David Letterman. (He also talked about his arrest at the Walgreen's, which was a hilarious story). At one point in the movie, I thought, "Shia is Tarzan?"

Karen Allen: Love her. Loved the way she smiled when Indy told her what was wrong with all of the other women. Loved all of her banter with him. I love banter like that.

Nice little touches of that particular crate, the nod to Star Wars, Brody and Henry, Sr., and the snake/rope.

Big mounds of huge ants are scary. Apparently, big scorpions are not supposed to be scary, though.

I wonder if "Death by Monkeys" is possible. Or if it was anyone's band name. Because maybe I'll steal it if it's not.

Harrison Ford: Still Indy. Still awesome. Still love him. I mean, hello, I even just love his silhouette!

Thank God for refrigerators.

I hope that you're all able to see this movie on the big screen, because you need to. Go. Go now. Before the prairie dogs see you. (What was up with those, anyway?!)

Alien Languages and White Blond Actors

So today, my sis-in-law and I decided to have fun after work, since she's staying at my place for a couple of days.



We decided to go to a Japanese restaurant by my house, so that we could get some Boba afterward, which is a couple of doors away from the restaurant. At the Japanese places, there were 2 babies, of about the same age, on different sides of the room. One baby had a high-pitched short scream, which we figured out must have been her way of talking. The other baby observed this behavior for awhile, then started to do his own little scream, on pitch with the other baby. It was almost as if they were talking to each other in some kind of alien baby language. At one point, they were even making gargling sounds at the same time, and V said that they sounded like Chewbacca. They really ARE aliens, then!



So after the aliens went back to their home planets, and we were done with our own meals, we went to Aloha Boba to enjoy their yummy libations before going to the movies for a viewing of "Iron Man." Now, you all know that I loved this movie (if you've read my blog from the first viewing), and since V hadn't seen it yet, and I was quite willing to see it again, we decided on the Fe Dude. I had thought that she would love the movie anyway, considering the fact that she studies robotics and stuff like that, and I was quite right. Our conversation after the movie, though, was what made the evening hilarious (oh, and the stories that I told her from my doctor friend, which, I'm sorry, cannot be repeated here).



Can you tell the difference between these actors? If so, who are they, and what movies were they in?






If you read in the credits of "Iron Man" that Jeff Bridges was in the movie, would you tell me that it was actually Jeff Daniels?

...

V did.

I'm watching "Snakes On A Plane" right now...yes, voluntarily...because I just want to see Sam Jackson say his famous line...and because sometimes I like to waste time/money on stupid things.

Anyway, it reminds me that I meant to blog about my last flight home from Sacto. The folks at SWA are known for having fun, and this flight was no exception.

As we were boarding the plane, I overheard the pilot saying to a passenger, "First flight? Mine, too!" I think he's been on Star Tours.

The flight attendant spiel was funny, too, and I heard some lines that I hadn't before.
"We'd like to welcome you to flight number...aah, who cares? We're flying to Ontario, so it really doesn't matter what number flight it is, that's where you're going."
"We ask that you pay attention to the flight attendants as we describe the safety features. If you don't listen, you're on your own."
Life vests: "Just remember, it's 'kick, paddle, paddle, kick, paddle, paddle."
Oxygen masks: "Put your masks on before helping anyone else who needs assistance, like your children...or husbands..."
"...and do not push your Call Attendant Light, as it is actually an Ejection button."

Due to the heat, or possibly due to it being the pilot's first flight, our descent was shaky, but we made it safely home.

Update: OMG, this movie is terrible! But I'm still sitting here, waiting for him to say that line...

WitWi Carmen Sandiego clips from 1st season

Welcome back to the year that Rockapella was first introduced to the kids at PBS (and to the Bro and me)!

Gooey Goodness

Last week, a couple of my friends and I went to The Melting Pot in Old Town Pasadena.

We had never been there before, so it was a brand new experience for all of us. We joked that we hadn't had a new experience together in a very long time. (We've been friends since elementary/junior high school).

We were seated by the window, so we had a nice second-story view of Colorado Blvd. Our server explained to us that there are no stoves in the kitchen, as all of their cooking is done at the individual tables. We decided on "The Big Night Out," which included 4 courses for a fixed price. We noted that the dinners were designed for 2 people, but the server advised that the 3rd could be added for an adjusted price.

Each course required a selection: cheese combination for appetizers, type of salad, a base for the main dish, and chocolate type for dessert. I wasn't too much in the mood for cheese because I had eaten a lot at the office's Cinco de Mayo lunch, but I said that I needed to have a lot of say in the chocolate choice. My friends indulged me, as they were raring to go for that cheese. :)

Our cheese choice was the Wisconsin Trio Cheese Fondue. I'm not a bleu cheese fan, but since it had "a hint of sherry" in it, I obliged. The server made sure to place the bleu cheese in the middle of the pot, so that I could just take cheese from the sides of the pot. She placed the cheeses, one by one, into the pot, letting each cheese type melt before adding the next one. We had broccoli, cauliflower, apples and cubes of different bread types to dip into the fondue. I was perfectly fine with eating our items without cheese, but I did try the cheese a few times and did enjoy it until some of the bleu cheese got blended into mine, and I didn't want anymore. My friends, however, enjoyed every moment of the cheese, and even saved the rest of it when the server was ready to start cooking again.

Our next course was the salad. I had the Tropical Salad, which is currently the featured salad on the menu. The mango added a nice, fruity touch to the tangy salad, which had a nice, light citrus dressing. The coconut-encrusted cashews were delish, as they didn't have too much of a coconut taste. Having had so much heavy food earlier in the day, I was delighted to have such a yummy salad, and enjoyed every bite.

The server then began to cook for the main dish. We had chosen the Coq au Vin, which, yes, included more wine, which was the last ingredient to be added to the pot. (Had I not been driving, I also would have ordered the Strawberry Basil Lemonade, but it had liquor, and the little sip I had from my friend's glass confirmed my thoughts that I'd probably order about 3 of them just for myself). The server requested that we only place cooked food on our plates (which had little sections in them), and to keep the raw food on the serving dish. She also advised us of the easy way to remember how long to keep the food inside the pot to cook it. "If it walks on land, it takes 3-4 minutes. If it doesn't walk on land, it takes 2 minutes." We had chosen the Fondue Fusion Selection, which included sirloin, lobster, pork, chicken, shrimp, ravioli, and vegetables. We didn't think that we'd be able to finish everything, but yup, we sure did! All of the food was quite good, and had been seasoned/marinated very well prior to bringing it to our table.

Then came the whole point of the meal, according to Sarah Michelle Gellar in "Simply Irrestible": DESSERT. We chose the "Flaming Turtle," which included the fun highlight of flambe. The dipping items included strawberries, cubes of pound cake, a slice of cheesecake, marshmallows, oreo-cookie covered marshmallows, cubes of rice krispy treats. The server advised us to place a slice of cheesecake and the pieces of pound cake on our plates and just spoon the chocolate over it, as they would not stay on our fondue forks. Mmmmmm..........on the fork, off the fork, who cares? It was ALL GOOD.

As you can see, we thoroughly enjoyed the food. Our server was very friendly and knowledgeable. We also enjoyed the atmosphere, and I particularly loved the fanciness of the bathroom, what with the special towels with the company logo on them, and the beautiful fixtures. We had a great night, and plan on going to Girls' Night Out one of these days (last Tuesday of every month). We're even planning on getting one of my friends' husbands to drive us there, so that I can have my fill of that lemonade. :)

80's Lyrics Quiz

I got a 64 on this one. Then when I read the answers, I slapped myself in the head because I should have known the songs. Must have been because I was eating breakfast while taking the test. Or because I'm getting old and my memory's fading quickly. I like the sarcastic comments on the scoring page, too.

Enjoy.

DLR LotD 05/06/08

Disneyland Resort Line of the Day
Tuesday, May 6, 2008

"Would anyone like some fresh ground pepper?" -- Blind guy whom didn't see that we already had our own salt and pepper on the table, at Catal

Happy Birthday, Ryan!

My Froot Loops Will Dry Your Tears

Yesterday, we celebrated my mom's birthday at Marie Callendar's Sunday Brunch.

We were thankful that they seated us way in the back, because nephew Brady has had a tendency of throwing tantrums in restaurants lately. He was OK this time, though. He kept going to other people's plates so that he could taste their food. V just asked him to stay at our table. I figured that maybe they were training him early to be a hobo, but whatever.

Another family with little kids sat at the table behind me, and a little girl, about 2 years old, started to cry. Brady looked over at their table with a look of concern on his face. Then he walked closer to their table, all the while watching the little girl. (I think her name was Cece). They finally let her walk around a little bit, and she walked toward Brady, whom was holding a little box of Froot Loops. He was quietly advised to share, and there he was, handing the little girl a Froot Loop, one at a time, as the tears still glistened on her chubby little cheeks. She proceeded to store them in her mouth, one at a time, packing them in like a chipmunk with nuts. She had stopped crying, and finally when she had her fill of cereal, gave Brady a big hug of thanks. Simultaneously, the females at both tables cried out, "Awwwww!!!!"

My nephew's going to be a great boyfriend someday.

Kentucky Derby

Horse races are not supposed to make me cry.

Especially when I go to church, and I have to hear about it again in church 2 hours later.

RIP, Eight Belles. I'll never forget this 2nd place finisher.

Congratulations, though, to the winner, Big Brown. Let's go for the Triple Crown! Hey, that rhymes. ;)

Fe Dude

I saw "Iron Man" last night. I don't really do movie reviews, but here are my thoughts.

Robert Downey, Jr. is awesome, as he is in all his RDJ-ness. I didn't even recognize Jeff Bridges because of his lack of hair, but I finally figured it out when he spoke. He does a great job with his character. I think it must have something to do with "hair acting." Ask Johnny Depp about it. Then ask Johnny to call me. ;)

Oh, and the evil bald Afghani guy really should have worn a hat, or at least a scarf on his head! The dude is bald, his skin is burned, and he's standing out in the hot sun?! I guess that's supposed to make us think that he's too tough for sunscreen and head coverings, but it also shows me that he's not very smart. Actually, maybe he IS wearing sunscreen. But dude, you *need* a HAT!

What is it with Stan Lee and the characters with the initials "P.P."? Gwyneth Paltrow plays Pepper Potts, whom is Tony Stark's (RDJ) assistant.

Stan Lee's cameo. Gotta love it.

The special effects are awesome, and I want a computer like that in my house. Oh, and a robot or two to help me out a little bit.

I highly recommend this movie for all of you Superhero/Action Movie fans. I also recommend that you STAY UNTIL THE ENTIRE MOVIE IS DONE. ("Entire Movie" includes credits). You won't regret it, especially if you're a comics fan.

Finding Food in Sacto

I've been spending a lot of time in Sacramento lately, so I've had a chance to taste around a little bit. If you're ever in the area, here are my suggestions.

La Bou Bakery and Cafe: This place is open for the breakfast and lunch crowd, and serves sandwiches, salads and soups. The sandwich bread is nice and soft, very fresh. I had a combo of half a tuna sandwich and Chinese Chicken Salad, which was delicious. There are a few other items I'd like to try there, so I plan on going back. They have several restaurants around the Sacramento area, with quite a few just in Downtown alone.

The Blue Gecko at 1379 Garden Hwy (no website): The first time I went there we were able to sit outside, which is very nice, as the restaurant is located on the bank of the Sacramento River. One of my dining partners had the spicy fries, and I was so envious of them that I returned with other people the next month, and hyped up the fries so much that almost everyone in our 6-member party ordered them. They were not disappointed at all. The restaurant describes itself in an article as American cuisine, with a hint of Caribbean flavor. They have Karaoke one night of the week, in case you're interested in that.

Pyramid Alehouse (menu not included on website): I don't enjoy beer, and I needed to go back to work, so I didn't drink anything here at lunch, but I enjoyed my meal, and my dining partners enjoyed their meals, too. As expected, they offer sandwiches, burgers, and the like. I had a turkey burger which came with swiss cheese, and I added on carmelized onions and mushrooms. My friend predicted that they'd have good onion rings there, and she was pleased that she was correct. The service is a bit slow for lunch, though.

Texas Mexican Restaurant at 1114 8th Street: The service is prompt here, and the food is tasty, with the portions just the right size for lunch. I've heard good things about the Charro Beans, so I'll need to order those the next time I'm there.

Megami Bento-Ya Restaurant at 1010 10th Street: Japanese food with good prices and very generous portions. I had their chicken teriyaki, and it was quite good. I might try their sushi one of these days, because I've seen good reviews about it. It's a little place, and difficult to find due to street construction, but I'm glad that one of our friends had already been there and knew the general area that it was in so that we could find it.

Gino's Java Juice at 1500 7th St: I had coffee here about 3 times a week for the 2 weeks that we were having training across the street, not only because of its convenience, but because I really enjoyed their Black & White Mocha. Absolutely sinful blend of white and dark chocolate with espresso. No, I didn't have that every time. Their Chai was also very good, as was the Mexican Mocha. Their baked items were blechy, though, so I recommend getting your breakfast elsewhere. I don't normally have coffee this often, but when you're sitting in a training session all day, caffeine really helps get you through the day.

Hmmm...I'm now actually looking forward to going back to Sacto, but really just to try other menu items in these places.

Room with a View

Sometimes, you can find nice things in unexpected places. I stayed in Sacramento last week, and was able to stay at the Radisson for one of my nights there. This is the view from my Lakeview room the night I arrived.

PRETTY!


Then the next day, and for 4 more days afterward, here was my view at the Hawthorn Suites.

Back to the Expected.

So I may end up back here someday, eating breakfast on the terrace, looking at this view again...

Sigh.

Canadian Geese were honking at each other, and I was really relaxed. If only their coffee bar had been open that morning, I would have had breakfast there, but I may order room service next time just to be able to really enjoy that again.

Next up: Restaurants in the Sacto area

DLR LotD 04/20/08

Disneyland Resort Line of the Day
Sunday -- April 20, 2008

"No, it's the other one." -- Glenn and Sherry, simultaneously giving the name of the Not-New-Zoo-Revue, at Whitewater Snacks

Adventures in BradySitting -- Day 3

I got up a little late, so Bro had already left before I was done with my shower. When I opened the door, there was Brady, smiling at me and giggling, because Dad had just finished telling him to knock on the bathroom door to get me out of there. What a cute face to see in the morning!!!

Brady and I played some air hockey. There was only one handpiece to use, because we couldn't find the other one. So I offered to use the bottom of a Duplo block. I said, "Should I just pretend? I can use this..." and Brady nodded his head. We started to play, but he must have decided that my block was giving someone an unfair advantage, so he took a Duplo block for himself, and the game was on. Well, kinda. The air doesn't work on the hockey table because it needs batteries (it's a small table game), so we just kinda pushed the little disc around. I know this paragraph is long, but the game only lasted, like, 3 minutes. He got tired of it and decided to build stuff with the Duplo blocks instead. What's interesting about him is that he tries to get his towers to be one color. Lots of other people use whatever color is there, but he's quite methodical about it. After he connected his tower to whatever concoction I made, he realized that I wasn't using like colors, so he took it apart a little bit to make things match more. So I guess he won't be needing Garanimals.

Oh, Bro told me a few days ago that Brady bases his outfit choices on whatever Bro is wearing. So if Bro wears blue, Brady wants to wear blue. Too cute. Dad asked him about the color of his shirt that day, which was orange. I asked him what color Bro was wearing that day. Brady said it was blue. Apparently, Brady ran out of blue shirts, and someone needs to do laundry.

Brady saw that Dad was trying to sneak out in the morning, so Dad brought him along with him. After they returned, we went to Lakeshore Learning Center to get some gifts for a couple of kids. Brady seemed OK playing by himself as long as Dad was still in his sight line. When I offered to take him around the store to shop for something he'd like, he couldn't see my Dad anymore, and kept calling out, "Nono, Nono!" while walking through the aisles. He didn't walk very far, though, so I've decided that he's not quite a searcher yet. At least not in strange places. We didn't want him to get yet another ball-based toy, so he got mad at me when I wanted to take him away from the one that got his hand stuck. No, I did not get his hand stuck. He did that all by himself. Dad convinced him that he wanted a fishing rod magnet and a bag of letters that you can use in the bathtub. When we got home, Dad was disappointed that the reel on the fishing rod didn't actually turn. Brady was equally disappointed when he tried it. Dad has now decided that he's just going to give him a real fishing rod. OK, but when Brady got tired of fishing for magnets with the rod, he just started using the string and its magnet to pick up the other stuff. Hopefully, he won't do this when he gets a real fishing rod.

We went to Costco, and I carried Brady around while Dad got in line for his prescription. (He didn't want to ride in the cart, so Dad took it to get his orange juice). Brady didn't want to try any of the samples, so I ate them while he pointed at everything saying, "Ooh, BIG!" Yes, I encouraged that. I can't help it that those boxes of milk are big enough for him to crawl into. We also went to the flower bouquets and smelled the roses. We ate our lunch there, and Brady pretty much picked all of the meat off of Dad's pizza. Apparently, they can sit there for hours because there are birds for him to watch and stuff. Hey, as long as there's food and drink and restrooms, go ahead and loiter, I say. On the way home, Dad asked him to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." So I sang, while Brady aah'd along. Apparently, he does know some words, but he didn't feel like singing them at the time. At least he was on pitch, which is what I hoped would happen. I tried to get him to say "TA DAH!" after he was done with each song, but I'm not sure that it stuck. I do know, however, that the difference between "bank" and "net" stuck, though, because I quizzed him without even having a ball handy.

Unfortunately, with all of the caffeine from Dad's Coke (the lemonade didn't taste right), Brady didn't feel like taking a nap. He actually ran from room to room to see what the dogs were doing, and they were really just lying there. We went to visit my mom and hung out there until she was ready to leave, and Bro met up with us. Brady really loved the carrots that were on Mom's plate, eating almost all of them, so it looked like Mom had quite the appetite. We told Brady that he could play with Mom's balloon when he came back the next day, but he didn't want to get into Bro's car without it, so he ended up taking it with him. I was just happy that there was no balloon in our car. :) Anyway, before he left, we told Brady that he wouldn't see me the next day, so he actually gave me a kiss this time. Finally!

You see? Dreams do come true! No, I'm not just talking about the absent balloon.

We'll see how much he remembers about our bonding time when we spend time at Disneyland together someday. Bro wants to see if Brady will actually let me carry him around there next time. I guess one needs to have goals, right?

Adventures in BradySitting -- Day 2

Yesterday, Dad was able to get away for a longer amount of time, since it appears that Brady has gotten used to the idea that I'm going to be here for awhile. Brady turned on his Nintendo while we were watching Curious George, and pointed at it, saying "Play." I said, "Who's going to play? Brady or Tita?" He looked at me like I should actually know the answer, and said, "Tita!" So that was my first time for him to say my name in person, at least so that I can actually hear it.

He requested milk shortly after that, so I went downstairs, and told him to stay on the couch upstairs. No sooner had I reached the refrigerator than I hear from upstairs quite loudly, "TITA!!!!! Titatitatitatitatita!", along with dogs growling. OK, so now I've heard my name quite often and really didn't want to hear it that many times in a row. I brought his milk upstairs to him, called out the dogs' names, and it quieted down. Brady does actually know the dogs' names, but once Cadence and Presto start quarreling, it takes very loud voices to get back to serenity. Or serenity as compared to, you know, a full circus.

He helped me play Nintendo, even knowing how to get to his actual game after the system had been turned off. The kid is smart. We went outside and he promptly picked up a rake and started doing yard work. Granted, it's one leaf at a time, and it takes him 2 or 3 sweeps of the rake to get that one leaf, but it still helps. I didn't exactly know where Mom puts the leaves that she's raked, so I asked him, and he brought over the pail so that we could transfer the leaves. He also played frisbee with the dogs and me, which is always fun, because the dogs really love catching the frisbee, especially Cadence (or "Dadence," as Brady calls her....he calls the other dog "Peeto").

He mostly played and argued with my dad for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, he didn't feel like taking a nap. I was soooo looking forward to that, but after I had been away for an hour and came back to his awake state, I realized that the nap was not going to happen. Of course, the result was that he was really cranky at the end of his day here, so we just had to deal with it until Bro arrived. Brady got mad at Dad because Dad didn't want Brady to put his hand in his mouth after touching dirt, so he cried, and then wouldn't talk to me either, nor would he share his apple with me. Dad distracted him for awhile by taking him outside to meet up with Bro, but then the dogs got all whiny when they heard Dad and Brady out front.

Oh, well. I guess the whining just doesn't stop when you've got more than one kid to look after.

Adventures in BradySitting -- Day 1

My mom has been unable to take care of my nephew Brady this week, so I'm staying at my parents' house to help out my dad. Brady usually ignores me for a few hours before he warms up to me, so I thought that maybe if I stay for a few days in a row (instead of a day here and there), he'd get used to the idea of having me here.

We started yesterday with him agreeing to eat an egg that I cooked for him, even though he didn't actually say hi to me. That's OK. I'm not a morning person, either. Then we went upstairs to watch "Curious George," which is his favorite program. He said, "Monkey!" when I suggested going to watch it. During the program, he decided to turn on my dad's laptop, and promptly clicked on the TurboTax program. Since I didn't really want him to mess up my dad's taxes, I firmly said, "No, Brady," which resulted in loud crying until my dad came upstairs and clicked on the Curious George game website, which is what Brady had originally intended to do. He's pretty good at that, BTW. Brady also taught me how to play on his Nintendo DS, so that I could keep busy with him.

Well, our first argument of the day was over, and, surprisingly, we didn't have anymore. My dad sneaked off for a little while, and Brady did notice after about 10 minutes, so he went downstairs looking for my dad, calling "Nono, Nono!" (his version of the Tagalog word for Grandpa, which is actually "Lolo"). I somehow distracted him by playing basketball, which thoroughly entertained him as long as I was excited about my own b-ball skills. He ended up learning the expression "WHOO HOOOO!" (complete with arms up), "Winner!" and also learned the difference between "Bank" and "Net" shots. This impressed my dad later on in the day, so I'm pretty sure I taught him something new, which is cool. He did end up playing with me for awhile as I dribbled the ball (he can't quite do that yet), passed the ball to him, and he made the shot. Oh, he also learned "rebound," but I don't know if he knew that before. The night before, with my brother's lead-in, Brady cheered the U of Michigan "Let's Go Blue!" which cracked us all up, especially due to the fact that he was wearing his Michigan shirt.

Dad came home and after I left for awhile and returned, we had lunch and eventually took a nap. Yes, all of us. My nap didn't last quite as long as Brady's (2.5 hours), but it was still quite relaxing, as most of the family has been anxious as of late, and I needed the rest.

By the time Brady awoke, it was close to time to get him to his Daddy, so we said our goodbyes. Brady still won't hug and kiss me goodbye, but maybe we'll get around to it by the end of my stay here.

Girls Day with the UCI Roomies

One of my friends was able to get the day off from the rest of her family, so some of us went to a fancy nail salon in West Hollywood, l.a. vie l'orange hand + nail spa.

It was more expensive than I'm used to paying, but this was more like a spa experience than a regular salon, and they served us beverages, such as water (which, like a spa we go to, is flavored with fresh cucumber and oranges)/iced tea/hibiscus tea, and they also baked fresh cookies while we were there, which made us all more hungry for lunch. At least when I went here, I was prepared for how much I'd be spending, unlike that time we were in Reno and there were no prices marked anywhere, and the women basically ripped us off.

Here, we sat in individual little cabanas (Christine's word), yet we were still able to talk to each other. That might have annoyed other people there if they wanted a quiet atmosphere, but we were the only ones there for most of our appointment time, so we didn't really disturb anyone. Their basic foot soak contained stones and rose petals, and it smelled really nice, and they have their own small line of lotions/body wash. The technicians were friendly, and mine had even memorized half the names of the nail polish colors, which was quite impressive. She heard me tell my friend that I wanted a different color than what I had chosen, and when she heard the kind of color I wanted, she promptly had one of her co-workers bring the exact shade that I was thinking of, requesting it by name.

Afterward, we went to Orso, and had a tasty Italian meal. Their menu changes every day, but you can check the New York page on their website for an idea of what they serve. We were seated in the (enclosed) patio area, and they had heatlamps on, so it was very comfortable. They weren't particularly busy due to the time of day, we were served promptly, and the food was tasty. One of the servers had a little bit of an attitude, but he wasn't our main waiter, so that was OK. I split a plate of Insalata Caprese as well as Pizzetta Elba with one of my friends, and we enjoyed our food, as did our friends whom had pasta dishes.

If we had more time, I would have led them to MILK for dessert, but alas, one of us needed to get home, so I just told them about it instead.

I had a great time with you gals! Thanks for helping me get my mind off the stressors in my life. I was happy to relax with all of you.

When did I stop being a Christian?

I was talking to someone the other night, and they asked me, "Are you Catholic or Christian?" I went off on a rant, and they explained to me that they just meant to ask if I was of a certain denomination or not, but it still bugged me.

This is not the first time that I've heard someone make this distinction. When the question is asked in this manner, it hearkens back to a time that someone told me that some people think that Catholics are not Christian. I think it had to do with the fact that we emphasize the importance of Mary, but I just don't buy it. I guess they're just ignorant or whatever, but I was never taught in Catechism that Mary is God. We just ask her for help to pray for us, as we do for the other saints. (Hey! Saint! That's me!) :)

Anyway, my rant included the fact that Catholics follow the teachings of Jesus, and we actually depict Him on the Crucifix, so where did the aforementioned people get the idea that Catholics aren't Christian?

I'm not going around telling people which church is best. What I believe is my faith. But don't tell me that I'm not Christian. You'd just be as wrong as wrong can be. I sing for His glory every week. I read the lyrics that I'm singing, you know. I've been told that when I'm up there leading the congregation, my love for the music and for God shine through and that I'm clearly happier up there than any other time they've seen me.

So don't downgrade me and tell me that my faith ain't real. These days, I need that faith more than ever.

Step By Step

All grown up, and looking FINE!!! Yummilicious.


Thank you to those of you whom let me know about my boys' projected announcement on tomorrow's Today Show. I really hope Merc knows about it, because I'd like to think that she'll be thinking about our crazy antics when she sees the show tomorrow.