Thanks to Yelp, my wife and I attended a holiday party catered by a Michelin chef.
As my wife would say, my tummy is happy.
Day 354: Reign-y Sunday
Ontario Reign oven mitt.
The last hockey game I attended was in the early ’90s, when Wayne Gretzky was playing for the Kings at the old Fabulous Forum. I sat a few rows behind goal and got to see The Great One do his thing. I’ll never forget how much better the game was live than on TV.
However, as much as I enjoyed that game, it didn’t stick. I occasionally watch the playoffs when the hometown Kings are involved, but outside of that I don’t really follow it.
(Side note: the number one thing I can’t stand about diehard hockey fans is when they justify their love of the sport by saying how “real men” play hockey. They play through injury, they’re tough, blah blah blah. Listen, I get it. Enjoy your sport. But when NFL games are regularly compared to car accidents and boxers/mixed martial artists practice the sweet science of causing major bodily damage to their opponents, I don’t want to hear a word about toughness.)
Fast forward to today, as my family and I scored tickets to the Kings’ minor league team, the Ontario Reign. We had a blast at this afternoon’s game. Once again, the speed of hockey is so much better in person and since this was the minor league, the arena was smaller and we could follow all of the action easily.
The experience was a first-class production from the moment we walked into the Citizens Bank Arena (much like the minor league indoor soccer and baseball teams in the area, the Ontario Fury and the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, respectively). While it’s not the highest level of professional sports, it’s entertaining and more fan-friendly both in environment and in ticket prices.
And fans get the coolest giveaways, as shown above. Nothing beats an oven mitt that looks like a hockey glove. Go Reign Go!
Day 353: Cat and Dog
Grumpy Cat and Boo.
I’ve been able to avoid all of the holiday retail madness so far, having finished my shopping on Cyber Monday (and a few items purchased online a few days later).
Today I found myself at Michael’s and Hobby Lobby. My wife and I were looking for arts and crafts supplies for an upcoming visit from our nephew and nieces. We have a lot of fun with the kids, especially during the crafts-making activities.
When we were in line I spotted Grumpy Cat and Boo (pictured above). I don’t know why I got such a kick out of seeing two Internet celebrities in stuffed animal form, but I did.
Day 352: Action Figure
This figure is old. Must be worth a lot.
I’ve always wanted to take a picture in front of one of those backdrops made to look like a Star Wars action figure box. Last night I did, as I sported my Mace Windu haircut, Lando Calrissian mustache, and Chewbacca hoodie.
By the way, I’m still not posting anything about Star Wars: The Force Awakens until after Christmas. And, yes, I have a very patient wife, who’s had to listen to me go on about …
Day 351: We Saw It
Opening Night!
As promised, no spoilers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Pictured above: my wife and I before tonight’s 7:30pm showing. It’s been many years since I’ve seen a movie on opening night — forgot how much fun all of the extracurricular stuff is. I’ll talk about the movie next week.
Day 350: Star Wars Eve
The Force Awakens
I had a great time with my gaming group tonight, playing Carcassonne, Kingsburg, Forbidden Desert, and Roll for the Galaxy. It took me a while to “get” Roll for the Galaxy, but after I did, it’s been a blast.
Naturally, the conversation turned to The Force Awakens since a few of us are going to an early showing tomorrow night. Although Christmas is still a week away, it feels like this is my version of Christmas Eve; call it the Night Before Episode VII.
I’ve got my blinders on right now, trying not to catch any Internet spoilers. My state of mind can be summed up in two words:
So. Excited.
Day 349: Star Wars for a Dollar
Star Wars for a Dollar.
Spoiler alert: The “Space Toys” vest at Dollar Tree isn’t really a real Darth Vader costume. Maybe next week they’ll have an Augie Ben Doggie costume in stock.
Day 348: Playoffs
Fantasy Football Playoffs.
At the start of this fantasy football season if you would’ve asked me about my teams playing in the postseason, I would’ve gone full Jim Mora on you, as shown above.
One of my teams suffered from Andrew Luck having the worst season of his career. My other team kept running into teams scoring their highest scores of the season. Bids on emerging studs like Matt Jones turned out to be for naught.
I kept my cool, though. No panic trades or knee-jerk add/drops. I’ve been playing long enough to know that the fantasy season is a marathon, not a sprint.
It didn’t hurt to catch a few breaks, either, from Carson Palmer being rejuvenated to Rob Gronkowski not suffering a season-ending injury.
I’ll need two more weeks of good luck to capture the championship, though. But at least I’ve got a shot, which is more than I thought I would have a few months ago.
Day 347: Holidays Filipino-Style
Last month my wife and I celebrated Filipino Arts and Culture at the FPAC 2015 event in Los Angeles. Today we were once again celebrating our heritage at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena.
Every second Sunday, the museum hosts a free cultural event and today was “Celebrate the Holidays Filipino Style.” We were part of a good crowd gathered in the museum’s wonderful courtyard enjoying the music, dance, storytelling, and a fun make-your-own-parol activity.
Of course, no Filipino get-together is complete without an abundance of delicious eats and today was no exception. We munched on chicken empanadas, turon, and sumon. One kind supporter brought adobo fried rice from Gerry’s Grill, but we were already stuffed and had to pass.
As always, the highlight for me was the traditional music and dance, especially the tinikling. Just like at FPAC 2015, the dance troupe was the amazing and inspiring Kayamanan Ng Lahi. I watch with a great sense of pride whenever they perform and today was no different.
Day 346: First
McGregor Gets There First.
I nearly missed the Aldo vs McGregor fight tonight. Not because I was busy or anything, but I happened to blink my eyes.
I’ve rooted for Aldo for so long that it was weird (sorta) rooting for McGregor tonight. McGregor talks a lot of trash, but he backs it up and the one thing I love about the UFC is that anything can happen.
In title-fight record time, McGregor knocked out Aldo cold in just 13 seconds. I thought the two would mix it up for two rounds before Aldo gassed (which is what seemed to happen to Weidman when he lost his belt to Rockhold in the fight before). But McGregor once again backed up what he said about nobody being able to take his left hand.
Aldo rushed in with his face wide open and paid the price as McGregor nailed him with that left just as Aldo was landing his own punch. Aldo was out while McGregor put the finishing touches (aka hammer fists) on him.
It reminded me of that old boxing adage: you want to be first. The Notorious One was first and cleaned out Aldo’s clock.