Zoltar
Spent a great day with family and friends at the Santa Monica Pier; the kids had a blast playing games and riding the rides, while us adults had fun watching the wee ones.
It was the machine above that caught my eye, though. Everyone from my generation knows exactly where this is from.
For the record: yes, it was plugged in.
I like the new Google Photos. A lot. The search feature is fantastic; it’s great how my photos are now grouped by topic as well as date.
Tonight I found the above photo under the “Golf” heading. I did not create this heading; thanks to the magic of Google Photos, my photos were scanned and put into the appropriate group. This was one of the better golf shots I hit this year; I love this tee shot at Roosevelt because you’re firing right at the Griffith Observatory. Thankfully, Google Photos has no proof of my next shot, a shanked approach that ruined any chance of birdie.
Every year around this time, I crave mango ice cream. Summer is getting closer, but my craving comes from an unlikely source: the Los Angeles Lakers.
I’ve been to the last eight Lakers championship parades, dating back to when Magic Johnson led a rally in front of the old city hall. I was at the Forum when Pat Riley made The Guarantee. I was on Figueroa and 7th for the ShaKobe years.
After a few of the parades, my brothers and I made it to Little Tokyo for lunch and dessert. We’re fans of a little nondescript ice cream shop tucked away in the Japanese Village Plaza. They serve a delicious mango ice cream and it always tasted the best on warm June days, especially after a parade.
My buddy Ricardo and I put together an Unofficial Yelp Event tonight and it was a blast. A dozen of us Yelpers enjoyed craft beers at the Hamilton Family Brewery in Rancho Cucamonga, California, and chowed down on some snacks that my wife and I brought: salt-and-vinegar cracklings and chicken empanadas. There were plenty of laughs and good times during our two hours at the brewery; hopefully this is the first of a regular series of events.
Rick Grimes is not feeling well.
Over the last three days, I’ve been out of the house exactly once (for Saturday’s Star Wars Day in Rancho Cucamonga). Thankfully, my wife has gone above and beyond in taking care of me, nourishing me back to health while I spent most of my time in our room. When I was craving In-N-Out animal-style fries, she went out and got me an order to munch on while I zoned out on the TV. Now that’s true love.
Since I’ve been such a zombie lately, I decided to watch some zombie films. But either my illness gave me Attention Deficit Order or I’m getting a bad case of cabin fever, since I couldn’t stay focused for the entirety of Dawn of the Dead. I still wasn’t up for getting out of the house, though, so I searched for zombie short films and found some excellent viewing material.
Below are the youtube links for two of my favorites; one is funny and the other is surprisingly touching. The best thing about these short films? You can watch both in less time than the previews at your local movie theater.
Jedi Elvis
I’m still wiped out from my sickness (which wasn’t helped by being out for Star Wars Day), so today’s post is short and sweet.
Above is Jedi Elvis, the hilarious singer/Star Wars geek. Below are links to my photo/video albums from the last two events I live-tweeted.
Star Wars Day photos and videos
Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Arts Night photos and videos
(Last night I posted this on my Google+ page; after being sick the last two days, I learned my website had exceeded its bandwidth)
I’ve been in bed sick since Thursday and I was getting a bad case of cabin fever. Thankfully, I was feeling a little better today, just in time for Star Wars Day in Rancho Cucamonga. This was the seventh year of the event and it’s better than ever. In addition to all of the amazing cosplayers, attendees were treated to Star Wars storytime with Darth Vader, arts and crafts (my wife and I wore our Yoda ears proudly), origami, artists (we scored a quick-draw sketch of Han and Leia by Jimmy Purcell), customized Star Wars cars, a fun lightsaber demonstration by the Saber Guild, kids costume contest, Wack-A-Jar-Jar (hilarious!), and my personal favorite, Jedi Elvis (songs from The King re-worked with Star Wars lyrics … yes!).
It was three hours of free Star Wars fun for the whole family. I liked how all of the activities were kid-friendly. It’s never too early to get the next generation into Star Wars and considering all of the light saber duels, costumed wee ones, and big smiles on everyone throughout the day, it’s safe to say that Disney’s multi-billion dollar investment will pay off in the years to come.
Tea time
Ugh. I caught a bug a few days ago and it hit me hard last night. My throat’s sore, my body aches, and I feel sluggish. I’m trying to take the positives out of this illness, though, and I can think of two things:
1. I love hot tea with honey and lemon; being sick lets me drink this all day long.
2. I should be somewhat better by tomorrow, so I can live-tweet from Star Wars Day at the Cultural Center in Victoria Gardens.
The X-Files
My wife has never watched the X-Files, so we’re starting with the pilot and she’s leaving it up to me to pick-and-choose the best episodes to binge. It got me excited again for next year’s limited series and I’m going through articles with titles like “Best X-Files Episodes to Watch Before Next Year” and “Scariest X-Files Episodes Ever.” I’ll introduce her to Eugene Tooms next, then perhaps cool things off with Jose Chung.
I hope she takes to the show like I did so many years ago. It’ll give us another excellent series to binge together … and I definitely don’t want to watch Home by myself again.
David Letterman
Tonight’s the big finale for David Letterman, who wraps up his late-night run after 31 years.
My cousin showed me the way to Letterman back in the mid ’80s, when a wacky character named Pee Wee Herman was being introduced to America. I loved Letterman and his silly, genre-redefining comedy, from Larry “Bud” Melman to Stupid Pet Tricks, the Velcro suit to Mujibur and Sirajul. By the time he moved to CBS from NBC, I’d lost interest in late-night television, except for the occasional episode of Arsenio Hall or, later, the Conan O’Brien show. For me, staying up late back then was for doing anything except watching television.
There’s something to be said for Dave’s longevity. Late-night comedy has changed a lot in my lifetime and Dave was right in the middle of those changes, taking the torch (along with Jay Leno) from Johnny Carson (who took it from Jack Paar and Steve Allen) before handing it off to Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon and the rest of the digital-age hosts.
While Dave hasn’t had his best stuff in years, he was funny whenever I did manage to watch some of his show. It was comforting to know that he was there on CBS, plugging away and available if I happened to turn on the TV after 11:30pm. I’ll miss that.
Farewell, Mr. Letterman.
