Random Friday Night Stuff

So here's a few late night random thoughts. Hopefully by getting these out of my head, I'll be able to focus more on my paper due Monday morning.

• John McCain is really a good guy when he's not debating. I think he is suffering from the Bob Dole/Al Gore Syndrome where he is over advised and doesn't act like himself when he's in the spotlight. This is the first election that I can remember where I like both of the candidates (not so much their running mates).
• If our lexicon can change so quickly as to add google as a verb and badonkadonk as a noun, why can't we add a non-gender specific pronoun (along with a possessive form to boot)? It's politically incorrect to use 'he' when talking about some person and using 'she' makes it seem like you're an activist and detracts from the readers' attention(Maybe I'm chauvinist, but every time I read a she, the first thing I think is, "Oh, that person is sensitive to the hundreds of years of using 'he' and 'man' for both genders and is now making up for that by randomly using 'she'." Then I have to go back and reread that sentence). Using the vague 'one' or 'a person/that person' lacks oomph. Randomly going back and forth between the two is confusing, but not quite has bad as trying to read 's/he'. I don't think I've ever met a 's/he' before. How about 'zee'? He, she, zee. His, her, zer.
  For example:
  "A person is liable for damages when zee acts unreasonably, or, if an agent under zer control acts unreasonably."
  
• Does anyone else see the cruel irony in our economic mess? Homeowners are in trouble because they borrowed too much and have nothing in savings. Companies are in trouble because they used borrowed money to lend to people who can't pay them back. Our government is in trouble because it spends too much and has to borrow money from China and Saudi Arabia, and is now borrowing more money in order to lend to those troubled companies so that they can lend to more borrowers. In response to all this, the Federal Reserve is lowering interest rates so that it can be easier to borrow money. What am I missing here? I'm no Einstein, but it seems to me that fixing over-borrowing and overspending with more spending and more borrowing is like fighting fire with fire.

Captain Chipmunk - The Pundit

Ok, first, law school is going great. I love my classes and the challenge; although my butt is sore from all the sitting (if I could only find a way to highlight effectively on the treadmill).

Now, I'm trying to read for my class in an hour and can't because last nights VP debate is killing me. So I write in hopes of clearing the insanity!

I try my darndest (to use Palin-speak) to not be partisan. It's easier and easier as it becomes clearer that both sides of the aisle are merely puppets of big business. But I'll save that discussion for another day.

I think issues and beliefs are important in choosing a candidate, however, I think competency should trump belief. I think the last 8 years are proof of the what happens when one allows beliefs to control choice.

In the case of Obama & McCain I think both are competent to handle the job. To decide, I can turn to my value set and decide which candidate will support my views.

Turning to the VP debate last night, I tried to set aside all prejudice and beliefs (if that's possible) and judge the candidates solely on their competency: knowledge, poise, intellect, speaking skills, etc. If you were to blindly grade both candidates on these considerations, who would win?

By the end of the debate, I found that, whether I agreed with him or not, Biden showed knowledge of every question asked, provided examples and spoke intelligently with out talking down to people. I got the sense that if you were sitting down to dinner with him and wanted to talk at length about any of the topics presented at the debate(Iraq, energy, nuclear weapons, Isreal, Iran, Wall Street) he could carry on with an engaging conversation. He seemed to know more than just talking points.

On the other hand, I got the sense that Palin was one follow up question away from disaster. While straying from topics and tapdancing around answers is commonplace in politics, she lacked coherence and depth. Both candidates had talking points, sure, but Palin did not go beyond those flash cards.

Is that being partisan? I don't think so. Am I being elitist. Sure! There is a reason it's hard to get into Yale. There's a reason why only one person can be editor-in-chier of the law review or graduate top of their class. That's the kind of person I want removing a tumor, representing me in court and talking to crazy foreign leaders with nukes.

Does that mean only those types of people are capable of such tasks? Certainly not. It's not a requirment, but the difference is if you graduate from the Du Loc Community School for Jazz Dance and want to be a doctor or a head of state, you must prove that you are at the caliber of those who did graduate from, say, an ivy league school.

Coming back to the election at hand. How can anyone say that Palin is at all competent to be second in command for one of the most powerful countries in the world? I just hope those who do think that way don't ever sit on the board examinations for my brain surgeon, God forbid I ever need one.

If you've made it this far, I'm sorry, but I feel better now.

Law School: Day 3

At some point I do intend to write something other than law school stuff, but since it is so new and the lead in to school took a year, I think it's worth a few posts here.

That being said, it only took 3 days of class before the first game of solitaire popped up on a laptop and someone was on facebook chat.

Law School: Day 2

Today was much more substantial than yesterday. I had four classes and actually got a taste of the Socratic Method.

I got called on for the first time this morning in Torts. It was something I had been quite anxious about. I didn't really know what was going on when it happened, and by the time I did know, it was over. In retrospect, it was quite unremarkable and not worth the build up. Much like my first time having sex!

Seriously though, it was nice to have that experience over and done with. It was also nice to see really smart students from really expensive, elite undergrads totally clam up. Not that I wish harm on others, but it eased my fears of failure.

I also feel quite older than everyone else. Back when I was in school, a laptop was a rare item in class. Maybe that's because I went to CSUN and no one could afford that sort of technology. But the incessant tapping of note taking is quite annoying and also quite amusing when it crescendos to a peak when the professor says something of import.

Law School: Day 1

OK, maybe it wasn't that bad. I didn't get called on today, but I almost wish I had just to get it over with. I have four classes tomorrow, so there's a better chance I'll get grilled.

Dis-Orientation

As if law school wasn't a big enough deal, they have to prepare you for it with an orientation...but wait...that's not enough. They need to prepare you for the orientation - get this - with a pre-orientation.

Now, I did find out a lot of helpful information and was fed a lot of great food (something that I never got at a state school during undergrad). I also got to meet many new friends and future colleagues.

But...

I drew the line when I had to sit in a class room for an hour while an administrator took us on a tour of the USC Law School web site and its features. Seriously. School hasn't even freakin' started yet and we're researching cases and writing case briefs...you'd think we'd know how to browse a web site.

Looking around at the credentials of the other students being oriented, it was clear that I'm on the bottom wrung of academia compared to them. I don't toss words like 'fellow' and 'dissertation' around in casual conversation. I enjoy reading books, usually at home or on a long plane trip, but you'll never, ever, find me in 'the stacks'.

That being said, if I got sick on campus, I could fairly easily assume that I would visit the Student Health Services Center, and if I wanted to work out (not while I was still sick...duh!), I would visit the Student Recreation Center. I'm confident I could find those buildings on a map, or even ask for directions if I was totally lost. No need. I received a personally guided walking tour of the campus. If I could figure this stuff out, no doubt Mr. Rhodes Scholar next to me can. So why waste all those precious man-hours on common sense stuff? How about a mock class using the Socratic method, or an in depth work shop on case briefing?

I think my orientation leaders (who were forced to do the tour) felt the absurdity of the whole thing and, to their credit, made the best of it by padding the tour with good advice.

Not that I'm bitter. I can't think of a better place that I'd like to spend my last few days of freedom before the storm hits than at the campus where I'll be spending the next 3 years of my life, getting to know the people that I'll be spending more time with than my own dear wife.

I shouldn't complain as USC is a great school and I'm privileged for the opportunity to attend. And as banal as parts of the orientation were, it couldn't be nearly as bad as attending that other school in L.A. (sorry GPG), who sent me their letter of rejection today, 10 months after I applied.

Just Did It

To follow up on my blog almost 3 months ago (and just a little ways down the page), my lovely wife and I made it up to the top of Mount Fuji. It was an exhilarating journey that started around 4pm when we left our hotel room and walked to the bus station. Upon arriving at the station we realized that our bus tickets were sitting back at the room. In the rain and crowded Tokyo streets, I ran back and picked them up, returning just minutes prior to our departure time.

We couldn't get a direct bus up to the start of the trail, so we ended up in Kawagutchi, the town at the base of Mount Fuji, and took a shuttle bus up to the 5th station (about half way up the mountain). During our 45 minute layover, we decided to get one last meal at the station. We were hoping for something substantial, but with the only choices being udon noodles or horse meat, we settled for the noodles.

We finally arrived at the 5th station around 8:30pm and after buying a $13 flashlight at the gift shop, hit the trail. There were only a few other hikers that we passed, or that passed us, during the first few hours of the hike. We were advised to bring lots of water, so between the two of us, we had 8 liters of water and 1 liter of Pocari Sweat. Little did we know that there were several stations, or huts, that sold water, soda, even beer and sake along the way at reasonable prices.

Around 1am we hit throngs of Japanese tourists and slowed our progress immensely. The trail was usually 2-3 people wide, but was congested so much that we would take a few steps then stop. This continued on all the way to the top. We made it to within a hundred feet or so of the top for the sunrise and stopped to take some pictures.

I was sure the views from 12,388 feet would be spectacular, but I didn't expect to find a fully functioning restaurant, vending machines and vendors selling warm coffee and hot chocolate. That made the 6 liters of water we were still carrying that much heavier.

After hiking through the night, and feeling the strong, bitter cold winds at the top, we opted not to hike around the rim of the crater. We sat for a minute and then hit the descent trail. From there, we had a good view of the line of hikers still trying to summit. We finally made it to the bottom at 8:45am, around 12 hours after we started. Our feet were sore, we were hungry and ready to sleep. Our breakfast consisted of soft serve ice cream, a melon cream soda, and a steamed bun.

After getting lunch at McDonald's back in Tokyo, we arrived back at our hotel at 1:30pm, 21 hours after leaving, then promptly slept till 8 the next morning.

There is a saying in Japan that "a wise man hikes Mount Fuji once, but a fool hikes it twice." I think I fall somewhere in between, considering I carried so much water up and back for nothing.

Just Do It

That's what my gorgeous wife and I decided this weekend, so we booked our flight to Japan.

Six nights in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo, known for it's many department stores (imagine a Macy's that's 7 stories high, with two more floors underground), and also conveniently near the red-light district. Oh yeah.

We'll be hiking Mt. Fuji (pictured above), visiting some friends that I made on my last visit, and eating, eating, eating.

It may not be the most fiscally responsible decision we've made in our lives, but hey, you only live once.

This will be my 3rd trip there - one tour with a big band and one business trip - of which only a day or two out of 18 was spent actually sight-seeing. It will be incredible to explore the city. Plus, it will be my dear wife's first trip of the continent!

Guilty Pleasures

Sleeping in an extra hour this morning and ditching the first few hours of work to enjoy a breakfast burrito with my good buddy Uncle Matty. That's not the guilty pleasure part though...that was just fun. The guilty pleasure was the extra cheese and hot sauce on the burrito....oh yeah.

Update 1:30pm

Apparently, the guys at TMZ.com caught my buddy going for a post-breakfast burrito ice cream at B&R. Guess the burrito wasn't guilty enough, huh?

Click here to see the juicy photo.

Window Memorials

I know people grieve in different ways, and that's o.k., but am I the only one who thinks the windshield memorial is a little bizarre?

Every time I see one (which is more and more often), I first wonder if the person being memorialized is looking down from heaven, full of satisfaction knowing that he/she will be remembered forever...or at least until the lease on the car runs out.

The next thing is I do some quick math to see how old that person was when they passed away. My remorse for that person is inversely related to the number of years lived (i.e. a 5 year old = tragic, 99 year old = maybe it was his time/he certainly lived a long life). Bonus remorse points for any sports team number or club affiliation - it's tough to lose a 3rd basemen unexpectedly.

Then I wonder why we as a society don't memorialize people while they are alive. I would enjoy seeing my name on my wife's, or anyone else's, back windshield while I was alive to enjoy it. It could have my name and birthday (to help people remember) and just leave the date of passing blank. But why stop there? Why not put a flower vase in the trunk? If that person is deserving of a custom label, they certainly deserve fresh cut flowers every morning.

Come to think of it, there are many possibilities in this realm. Many folks already have their family tree on the lower left hand corner of the mini-van. Why not use the whole back windshield? Little Jimmy's off to college? He goes to the upper left hand corner. Paws Skaggs, the family cat, goes to the great beyond? Upper right side (a.k.a. Heaven). That rich uncle who served on the board of a giant tobacco conglomerate passes on? He moves to the exhaust pipe (a.k.a....well you get the picture).

I guess I shouldn't talk - I had an "I Love Milk" bumper sticker on my car for years.

I'm trying...

...to make something of the next three months. School starts in August, and it seems like it can't come soon enough. I work out here and there, read a book here and there, but it all feels like treading water waiting for the impending storm.

Some have said to enjoy the last few months of your life, while others have said to read up on some things to get a head start.

I guess there's nothing wrong with treading water, right? At least it beats drowning!

Photoblogging Monday

It's amazing how fast a week goes. I get back into writing every day, then next thing you know a week has gone by with nary a post.

This weekend was super - filled with jets, friends, basset hounds and a great day with Mom.

Today's photo comes from Descanso Gardens, looking up the stream to the Japanese Tea House, which, by the way, serves my most favorite soda of all time, Melon Cream Soda.

Tea House

Photoblogging Monday!

A nice thing about living in Palmdale is every now and then your house gets buzzed by a B-2 Stealth Bomber.

I was out mowing the lawn when it took off from Palmdale Airport. I heard a rumble and turned to see a thin black line coming up over the hills by my house. It then banked and displayed it's signature bat-like shape to me. The B-2 leveled out again and was gone before I knew it.

I have 2 observations - first, the stealth bomber may be invisible to radar, but you can hear it coming from miles away. Second, looking up in the sky and seeing one flying when you don't expect it can make you soil yourself. I mean, having one fly over a parade or a sporting event is one thing, but to have something like that fly over while you're doing menial housework is another.

So in honor of our multi-billion dollar flying beast, here is this week's photo (with a Russian MiG flying in the background):

B-2 Spirit

Here's To You Uncle Don!

Things hit you at the strangest times.

Last night I went out to dinner with my gorgeous wife and her parents out in Tehachapi. Don't know where Tehachapi is? Draw a line between the middle of nowhere (aka Bakersfield) and Egypt (aka Barstow) and exactly half-way in between lies Tehachapi.

Lest, I digress - I have this strange quirk where I have to order a chicken fried steak (or country fried, depending on the part of town you're from), whenever I eat at a new diner-type restaurant. You know, the type that calls it 'supper' instead of dinner, or uses terms like 'with all the fixin's'.

Ordering that entree at a new eatery is always risky because some places use the worst cuts of meat, pound the crap out of it, then fry it and cover it with gravy to conceal the evidence.

Even though I've been eating healthy, I walked into that diner knowing that I was going to get a chicken fried steak. It was the largest steak I had ever seen, accompanied by mashed potatoes, gravy and corn. I cleaned my plate long after everyone else had finished, giving them time to box up the leftovers and pay the bill. I was still hungry and there was some gravy bits left on the plate so I thought I'd mop those up with a piece of garlic bread.

The in-law's had already doggie-bagged up the garlic bread so there was none to be had, leaving that leftover gravy to sit and go to waste, something I'd never done before. I guess I was visibly upset at this because my mother-in-law asked me what was wrong. That's when it hit me...

My Uncle Don shared that same chicken fried steak quirk with me, and at family meals he always ate everything on his plate and had to have a roll/biscuit/slice of bread to mop up the remaining bits of sauce. If there were none to be had, he would get upset. He passed away a few years ago after a brave battle with cancer. For such a remarkable guy, it's nice to know that some of his lesser-known quirks will be carried on.

Favorite Bloggers

One of my hobbies is taking photos, and every now and then I'm surprised when one turns out. Most of the time they don't.

I'm amazed by those who really have talent at what they do. Many of my fellow bloggers are excellent photographers; one of them being my newest addition to the blogroll, Brienne Michelle Photography.

Whether it's a coffee cup or a full blown wedding shoot, Brienne's creative eye and skill using her camera are stunning. She's a captivating writer too!

By all means, please visit her blog and you can see even more of her work on her web site.

I went to school with her husband (another talented person), and about the time we were deciding to become hetero life-mates, we met our future significant others. Thank God, we are much better off now.

Get Out Of Town

Why is it so hard to pick up and get out of town?

I have nothing to do this weekend and I thought it would be fun to go camping for a night or two. But I just can't commit myself to going. Why is that?

Maybe it's the musician in me that's afraid a gig will come up at the last minute. The last time I made a reservation at a campground, I got called for 5 gigs that weekend (a record for me). Granted, that was 5 years ago and I don't play as much now, nor am I as afraid to turn away work as I used to be.

I guess I should just pick up and go, I'll have a good time.

Photoblogging Monday!

I can't think of a better way to get back into blogging than with a new photoblog (although it hasn't worked the last few times).

I've really been enjoying the last few weeks spending time with friends and my beautiful wife. There's been a few opportunities to get my old trumpet out and make some noise, and I'm making inroads in the constant battle against the weeds in my back yard.

One of these days I'll hopefully have the talent (that many of my fellow bloggers have) of telling a story with my photos. Until then, it'll be show & tell....or, tell & show if we want to be chronologically accurate. I tell the story, then show the photo.

Today's photo is of my good buddy the grouper. He resides in the World of the Sea aquarium in SeaWorld and I've had the pleasure of spending the night with him twice now, thanks to the SeaWorld Adventure Camp. He's always kind enough to let me snap a shot of him 1st thing in the morning, even though he hasn't had a chance to 'freshen up'.

Rolling over at the break of dawn to see his morning face peer out at me has given me a deeper appreciation for my beloved wife, as she experiences the same thing every morning when she rolls over and sees me.

Grouper Morning Face

Rickrollin'

Yesterday's double post was my meager attempt at an April Fool's Day prank.

There is a strange Internet phenomenon called "rickrolling" in which people post links leading to one thing but actually point to a YouTube clip of 80's pop star Rick Astley singing "Never Gonna Give You Up".

Google rickrolling to learn more about it.

Besides being a meager attempt at a prank, it also wasn't original either. I got the blog idea from one of my favorite bloggers, Bean, at Strongly Worded Letter. His post wasn't as safe for work as mine, but he got me good...especially considering his post on March 31st was all about rickrolling.

Google got into the rickrollin' act as well. Their Blogger.com homepage listed an exciting new beta version of Google WeBlog set for release. They had a preview video that promised a first look and many never before seen features. The link pointed to a YouTube clip of Tay Zonday (Internet star famous for singing Chocolate Rain) singing "Never Gonna Give You Up".

I can't figure out if I got rickrolled or taytossed!

Double Post Tuesday!!!!

Now that I've started writing again, I just can't stop!

I was bored at work today so I began randomly searching YouTube. After watching a few viral videos, I started looking up old friends like I sometimes do on Myspace and Facebook just by chance someone has posted a video (using their real name).

How freaky is it that I found a video of myself in high school! Now this is a little embarrassing, but in 10th grade my friends and I performed YMCA dressed as the Village People for a talent show.

You guessed it...I was the sailor.

Here's the video.

Enjoy!

Things I Miss

After a few weeks of the emotional high I was on, it all came crashing down to the expected rut I am in now. Spawned by the many changes I will be making this year and cleaning out the garage and finding old mementos, I've been reminiscing a lot.

I feel guilty when I'm in these moods because I think I should be thinking of the future. Those precious minutes of thought spent on my favorite Transformers episodes could be used to cure cancer, solve world poverty or figure out how I'm going to pay for law school.

But when I think of the past, I remember who I am, and that helps guide me where I'm going tomorrow.

So that being said, I'm going to list some things I miss, remember fondly or just can't get out of my head:

• Being one of the 10 million strong and growing Flinstone's kids
• The pinball cartoon on Sesame Street that counted up to twelve
• Anything with tracks and ramps
• Going to Disneyland with no concept of how expensive it was (and not being pissed that everything sold there is made in China)
  
• Knowing every supermarket, drug store and department store that sold baseball cards within a 100 mile radius of my house
• Spending all afternoon building a battle-ready fortified base with my toys but losing interest when it was time to battle
• The awe of 1980's corporate behemoths - Xerox, IBM, Coke, McDonalds, GE.
• Asking my first girlfriend out on April Fool's Day (15 years ago today!) and trying to convince her and then my Mom that it wasn't a joke...the first of many smooth moves in life
• Thinking that a color monitor would be the coolest thing in the world
• Thinking that a color printer would be the coolest thing in the world
• The A-Team, Knight Rider and AirWolf

That's enough for now...time to think ahead for a little bit and dream about the future. Is there anything you miss? Do you live in the past like me?