May 26th, 2005 - Santiago, Chile
Had another great time in Chile. Hung out with Fena and Tati alot. We went to Star Wars on opening night and went to a club called House Rock which has mostly tribute bands playing. We saw Lemon which was a U2 tribute band and it was really great. The crowd was really into it to. They had all of the guitar riffs down pretty much note-for-note and the singer pulled off an amazing Bono impression. The drummer and bass player had it down two. For many of the songs they did the dual-guitar attack to simulate the record and on some of the songs, they would acutally play sound bytes from the cd's to use as a backdrop to the their music to give it a real U2 sound. They did most of the hits and before the show, the singer passed around a paper and people wrote down the songs they wanted to hear. We got two on the list and they played them. They opened up with "So Cruel" which is my favorite U2 song. I saw U2 in Long Beach on the Unforgettable Fire tour with Jason Weisberg and Steve Rosen. We were actually camped out overnight to buy tickets for the Deep Purple show [way before Internet ticket sales] and U2 was playing that night. Steve [the scalper] had some tickets that he didn't sell and we basically went in to get out of the cold. It was a great introduction to U2 since I really hadn't listened to them before. Lemon did them justice.
We had tried to get into the AC/DC show the week before, but got there way too late to get in. That band is called Ball-Breaker and they are supposed to be really really good. Next trip, I will get there really early for that show.
They played for over two hours and nobody wanted them to leave. We got seats right in the front since we got there so early. Things don't really get going until 11:00 p.m or midnight down there. Finding a restaurant open at 8 or 9 p.m. can be a problem sometimes.
Afterwards we had a jam session back at the Marriott which really went over well with the neighbors.
Got to go to Valpariso again and do some sightseeing. It is a big seaport town next to Vina Del Mar. The drive from Santiago to Valpariso takes about an hour and one of our partners down there had a driver take me. He was about 29 and was studying to be a priest. I was glad he told me this up front, because I was going to play White Zombie's Astro Creep 2000 through my iPod-iTunes when we got on the road. I played softer stuff instead. About halfway through the trip, he started trying to convert me and I fired back with scientific reasons why the Noah's Ark story was not possible. I also threw in my does Santa exist analogy to try and keep the subject changed. He was a really nice guy, but I wasn't buying.
May 21th, 2005 - Buenos Aries, Argentina
Four Countries in one Day!
Came to Buenos Aires for the weekend to hang out with my friend from work, Dave since Monday was a holiday in Chile. We hit a bunch of restaurants and had some beers. Saw Star Wars again with he, Rodrigo, and Diana. Caught a few things the second time around, but it didn't have the impact that the first time did. We went to a restaurant called HANAN that had a really aggressive belly-dancer. She kept making guys dance with her which you could tell really didn't sit well with some of the wives, or girlfriends that were with these guys. No pictures of that though. I finally got into the Kilkenny pub that I couldn't get into on St. Patrick's day. It was a pretty cool place and plenty of Guiness for everyone! Alot of American's hang out there too, so I felt like I was in any old American city and they were playing newer hip-hop [50, etc...]
On my flight back to Santiago, I showed up at the airport early enough to catch a flight that left 45 minutes before and would arrive about an hour earlier. They did not tell me that the plane was going to make three stops along the way. We flew to; Curitaba, Brazil, Foz du Iguazu, Brazil, Asuncion, Paraguay THEN to Santiago. All of those flight [take-offs/landings] were really rough and all of the flights were really turbulant.
May 6th, 2005 - San Juan, Puerto Rico
Spent a week in Puerto Rico and it was not raining this time. Got to see more of Old San Juan and the beaches this time which was great. We went to a Billiards Club for dinner and they were having a fasion show [complete with catwalk] and Miss Puerto Rico Universe was there doing her thing. Got a tour of some off-beat hotels including one called The Water Club which had a great roof-top swimming pool.
April 30th, 2005 - STEVE VAI!!!!
The Wiltern Theatre - Los Angeles, California
The King of L.A., Ben Mechelin got pit tickets for Steve Vai at the Wiltern. Drove down to L.A. and picked up my brother Mark along the way. We were going to meet Ben there and went up to the ticket window and they had some left over will call seats so I got Mark a pit ticket as well for $30.00. Hung out at a cool bar next door and waited for Ben. He showed up and we had some more drinks then went inside.
When I was a kid I used to go to the Wiltern all the time because it was walking distance my house and school and they showed the original Star Wars for $.50 for months on end. I used to go all the time and now I was back there for the first time since then.
I have the Steve Vai guitar [Ibanez Jem], his Bad Horsie wah-wah pedal and have been listening to him for years. He has been one of my major influences on guitar for years and I finallly got to see him live! Going into detail about the show is pointless, but it was the last show of his North American tour and he was in L.A., his home so he was in really great spirits. He spent alot of time talking to the crowd which was great.
He started out on a double-neck and it was really amazing. Billy Sheehan and Tony McAlpine were in his band which was a double-bonus.
Dweezil Zappa [Frank's son] came out for the encore "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama" which was a Frank Zappa song. Vai played with Zappa back in the day. Billy Sheehan hi-5'd me which was cool. Drove to LAX and crashed at a hotel for my early AM flight to Puerto Rico.
March 18th, 2005 - Beunos Aires, Argentina
Post-St. Patrick's Day
It's a really bumpy flight from Argentina to Dallas right now. Just spent a week in Beunos Aires. I arrived last Sunday morning and my friend Rodrigo and his girlfriend Dyana picked me up at the airport. We dropped my bags and guitar off at the Crowne Plaza hotel which is right at the center of the city. It is in front of their national monument which is "El Obelisko" [the obilesk] and it looks like the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.
The weather was really great, like 77 degrees every day. I really like it as far as big cities go. I really felt like I was down there when we drove by Eva Peron Blvd!
During St. Patrick's day they cut car traffic to the area with all of the Irish pubs and the people fill up the streets and party. We were there at ground zero in front of the Kilkeney Pub and it was really crazy. It was wall to wall people for blocks. We walked about ten streets and finally found a bar that we could get in to. It took like another 20 minutes or so to get drinks once inside. We bought beers two at a time. We had a blast. Later on, places started running out of beer on a large scale. I found a tiny market on a street [walked about 8 blocks] and came back with two large beers and lots of people on the street kept asking where I got them from. I actually got the tip from some Americans that were on a street corner hanging out.
I was dragging the next day for sure. It was great though.
Here is the view from my hotel window at the Crowne.
CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER:
HANSON was staying at the Crowne Plaza too.
The sidewalks in front of the hotel were packed with screaming young girls chanting "Han-SON han-SON YA-YA-YA" over and over. I could hear it clearly from my room on the 12th floor. There were also girls trying to get past the crack front lobby staff to get into the hotel. I guess to go door to door to find Hanson. The shocking part is that they still have so many fans down there.
I went down there on business and taught a class. Here is me and some of the students at lunch. For about $4.00 you get and awesome entre, drink, and desert. Oh yeah, I ate steak just about every day that I was there. I ordered the chicken one day at lunch to break it up, but that was about it. Since I went to different restaurants everyday with locals, I would just have them recommend something and it always seemed to work out great.
Argentina went through a massive banking crisis a few years ago and I had only really heard about it on the news and t.v. I got to speak with alot of people about it and it affected and changed everything for the entire country. There is usually some type of protest going on downtown. People are still mad at the banks. On Friday we walked by a bank that a gang of people came and wrote grafitti all over in broad daylight. I guess when everyone loses their life savings overnight, they tend to get a little upset.
Have you seen a movie called "The Motorcycle Diaries"? I actually saw it on a plane going to Japan, but it is all about these two guys from Argentina who travel all over South America on a motorcycle. The song won and Oscar for Best Song. It was also a true story and one of them was Che Guevara, who later became the Revolutionay Cuban leader. Anyway, I did not meet ONE person who has seen the movie. I guess it wasn't a hit down there at all. It was kind of a hit in the U.S. though. Go figure.....
January, 2005 - MALAYISIA / JAPAN Trip
CHINESE NEW YEAR
JAPAN
Mei, Bella, and I went to Kuala Lumpur for Chinese New Year. It lasts for two weeks. We flew from San Franciso to Japan [my new travel agent, Terry, got an amazing deal for us at the last minute]. We spent the night in Japan near the Tokyo airport and had an afternoon and evening in the city just wandering around and ate at a nice little Japanese restaurant. We stayed at the Nikko Hotel which was cool. While we were at the restaurant I used the restroom and thought it didn't have a sink which was strange. Then I noticed something about the toilet. It you look at this picture you will notice that the sink is on TOP of the toilet. It's a nice piece of engineering actually. It saves space and when you flush the toilet the water comes on the wash your hands with. That water falls into the tank and is then used for the next flush. It's that crazy go-go Japanese style too. My hotel had the BEER VENDING MACHINEnext to the ice dispenser. I am sure these would be a big hit in San Luis Obispo. Beer vending machines at the Motel 6!
I have more Japan picures here: Japan Page
MALAYSIA
Landed in Malaysia in the early afternoon on Chinese New Year's Eve and it was really cool. Fireworks were going off in the city all night. We got to spend a week there. There is not alot of traffic during CNY since everyone takes that week off so getting around the city was pretty easy. We went downtown and I took this PICTURE of the KL Tower. Here is a BEFOREand AFTER shot of some fireworks going off. I may have been a little too close. It was pretty loud brick of firecrackers.
It was good seeing the old gang again and hanging out with them. One of my friends there got married and her whole life has really changed. After she got married, she and her husband moved in with his parents and now she is running the household there. She is in charge of all of the meals and everything. She is the "Lady of the House". It has been a really big change in her life.
I got to hang out with Peggy and May-May and we played a tile-card game that they taught me and we played for hours. I met Peggy's mom and she was the dealer most of the time. Got to go to Sushi-King at 1-UTAMA mall. It is a chain of Sushi restaurants that I love. There is a conveyer belt that runs all through the dinining area and you just pick food off of it. When you are done, they come over and count your empty plates and give you a bill. During Chinese New Year, a big part of the 1st week celebration is visiting friends/relatives and giving Hong-Bao [pronounced ung-pow] which are little red enveloped with money inside to people that are younger than your or not-married. You also spend time visiting with people and people put out jars with red tops filled with all kinds of different delacies to eat and share.
As usual, it was really hot over there. I actually had a fever for a couple of days which was pretty miserable. I went to a local doctor near Subang and it was an Indian lady who studied in Sydney and had family in Chicago as well. She was really cool and gave me an injection in the behind which helped bring the fever down. I paid very little and the medications were included. When I went back for a follow-up, she didn't charge me anything. She lived near where I was staying and was even going to pop over and make a house call just to see how I was doing. Try that with an HMO in California.
I have more Malaysia picures here: Malaysia Page
January 20th, 2005 - San Luis Obispo, California
Innauguration Day
I have been listening to the radio today about what is going on in D.C. today. They moved all of the homeless people off the streets for a day. I guess they are spending over $40 Million dollars on this. Seems like a big waste of money. Filled in at the Mommy & Me class today with Isabella. Hung out with all of the soccer mom's again during lunch. They always bring the best munchies to these things. I don't want to watch the news tonight although I should watch The Daily Show and see what Jon Stewart has to say about things today.
I got an email from my friend Kelley who I met in New York City. She is a really cool person and lives in California now which is great. She used to work for VH1 and gave me and Ashley a tour of the studios when we were in the city a couple of years ago. Went on a bike ride earlier since the weather is so great right now. It was 76 degress [f] today with blue skys and everything. It should stay like this for a while. Anyway, that's about it for today.
January 17th, 2005 - San Luis Obispo, California
Had a cool weekend and went to the Monarch Butterfly Grove in Pismo Beach this weekend which was great. There are 50,000 or so Monarchs that come down from all over the western U.S. for the winter every year. The weather was really great yesterday. I was in Minnesota last week and it was sort of cold; it got alot colder after I left. It rained alot while I was gone, but the day I got back74 the rain had stopped so I have been pretty lucky weather-wise.
The Minnesota trip was for our annual company meeting. It was okay. The highlights were meeting and partying with Los Angeles Laker's trainer Gary Vitti and spending time with Michelle and the Australian team. Other than that it was kind of the usual. It got down into negative territory weather wise, but we were indoors most of the time drinking anyway.
I ususally take Mei and Isabella for breakfast a couple of times a week to Taco Roco and we usually order the exact same thing each time {Eggs and Bacon, R/B with a side order of Hash Browns and a drink] and we share it which is enough for us. They never, ever charge me the same price from day to day. Sometimes it's $5.00 something; sometimes it's $4.00 but this weekend, they only charged me $3.81!. Granted it was a new person working and she is pretty new, but I don't know how she got that figure. Not that I am complaining. Mei also wanted me to take her there for lunch on Saturday for fish tacos.
December, 2004 - Santiago, Chile
Spent two weeks in Santiago this December and they were really great. Here are some pictures. The APEC summit was going on while I was there and I had to give up my room on the VIP floor of the Marriot for the President of China's delegation. They had give me the room accidently. Since they had to move me in the middle of the night, I pretty much milked it for all it was worth and got free night, wine, bar tab excused, etc... Chile is such a great place to go. It looks like Europe, and you have the beach and mountains. Lots of wineries. It's very similar to California. Maybe that's why I like it so much.
December 30th, 2004 - San Luis Obispo, California
The Tsunami's are all over the t.v. and they will be for a while. I have friends in Malaysia and Thailand. My friend Cord lives right on the beach in Ko Samui Thailand and he didn't even know about it until the next day when he was watching t.v. My other friend Matt was scuba-diving with the Singapore gang in Indonesia and they are fine. Another friend works for Reuters news and is actually in Sri Lanka right now. I have talked to him on the phone a few times and he just says there are dead bodies everywhere. He has covered many wars and says it looks like an atom bomb just blew everything up. I can't even image what it's like over there. Makes me not want to complain about much these days.
PEDRO - Lost and Found.
A small dog dog turned up at my doorstep recently and I invited him in. He didn't have a collar and was very friendly. It was nice having him here. I put up some flyers and someone came and got him and I found out that his name was Pedro. I had been incorrectly calling him Elroy the entire time. It was nice having a dog around. I put my name down at Woods Humane Society for a small dog.
December 2004 - "Electric Garden" show - San Luis Obispo, California
We played a show at Laguna Brew in SLO and it was great. We opened up for Penny Jar and Bryan, Kevin, and I were pretty psyched. We went through two sets and got a really good crowd reaction. Our fan club [two girls from Orcutt] was out in full force again and Jason is going to book us for more shows in 2005. Billy was supposed to take pictures but he was too busy hitting on Sofia the wonderful bartender.
November 2004 - LAX - The Morphine
Woke up late for my flight to Mexico City from San Luis Obispo via LAX. rushed to the airport with minutes to spare only to discover that I had forgot to bring my paper tickets (no e-ticket on this flight for routing reasons). Mei had driven me to the airport so she rushed back to get them while I checked-in (the American Airlines people know me enough they cut me a little slack and gave me my boarding pass without the ticket.
Mei shows up at the absolute last minute and also found the charger for the video camera for some shots that Tom wants me to take in Mexico.
Earlier in the week I had moved some 100 pound Compaq servers that were given to me by Bill in Concord and I lugged them up the stairs to my loft by myself (which turned out not to be a good idea). There was a little pain in my lower back. Initially I had some trouble last year in Singapore with my back after flying from Brazil to L.A. to Asia (40 hours in coach) and then lifted some heavy luggage. My experiment with accupuncture on that trip did not go as planned either.
Fast forward to getting on the plane in San Luis Obispo. As soon as I sat down I knew something was wrong. I had somehow twisted my back and was now in excrutiating pain again. After landing in LA I was hoping that the pain would magically go away. I had to walk from Terminal 4 to the Tom Bradley International Terminal with all of my carry-on luggage. I bought some Advil and downed three tablets and ate some Chinese food. Pain is getting worse now. I checked in for the flight and told the lady about my back and she gave me a free upgrade to 1st class and got a pass to the Exec lounge. I was looking for a place to lay down and take the pressure off of my lower back and there was no place at all to do that there.
Went to the gate and layed down and things got better for about two minutes then the pain mulitplied which I did not think was possible.
The trip that I was taking was a one week tech trip to Mexico to visit some really important clients and there was no room for changes really. I considered calling it off which would have been disastrous (In my opinion). I had no choice, I had to get to an emergency room. I went back out through security and went to the counter and talked to the same lady again. She said that they would re-book me if and when I came back.
Considered calling an ambulance but figured a taxi would be quicker at this point.
Walked to the taxi stand and told the driver to take me to Daniel Freeman memorial and he did not know where it was. The dispacher told him to look in his Thomas Guide which he refused to do. I was sprawled out in the back of the cab, groaning in pain while he did his best to ignore me. He stopped at all of the yellow lights which is very unusal for a cab driver in L.A. and it took us forever to get there. Once there, I had to wait for an hour or so and the pain kept getting worse. I finally saw the doctor and she gave me a shot of morphine and the pain started going away. I fell asleep. Woke up and she gave me another shot and I felt so much better. Took another cab ride to Rite-Aid for some Vicodin. Went back to the airport and got on the plane for Mexico City and got bumped up to first class which was nice. Made all my meetings for the week which was pretty amazing.
Tom didn't use the footage that I shot in Mexico City either.
July 29th, 2004 - San Luis Obispo, California
We had band pracice last night for the first time in weeks due to Kevin's work stuff. It was really great and we played late. Made the mistake of mixing white wine and Tecate; paid for it this morning. Our practices are burned live to CD and if we record anything decent I will put some samples here for download. I played my Ibanez for most of the night. Here is a recent pic with most of my guitars. I feel like a real rock star here.
Have spent some time in my home studio and came up with this song called "What was I supposed to do". Here is a link to download the song.
I'm supposed to drive up to San Jose tomorrow but I'm feeling lazy.
MOVIE REVIEW: Catwoman
I really wanted to see this since we were staying at the Biltmore in downtown L.A. and watched them film for a couple of days and saw Miss Halle in person. Saw this at the Sunset Drive-In here in San Luis Obispo. I am really glad that I went to see this movie because I scored my all-time personal best on the Elvira pinball machine in the snack bar. I was in there because I gave up on the movie about 45 minutes into it. Not sure what happened here. The editing, storyline (or lack of it), pacing, and the direction that Halle receieved were all M.I.A. here. Most of the performances are un-even, but who cares. I got a deal on the popcorn as well.
I enjoy bad movies once in a while. You can see a good movie any time. Watching Red Dwarf right now on DVD. Disk two of season 1. My friend Steve came up from L.A. last week and I took him to Farmer's Market which was cool. He turned me onto a show called Aqua Teen Hunger Force which is bizarre, but I am not completely sold on it yet. Maybe it will grow on me.
Slo drivers are getting worse. People run the light after it's red (ala San Fernando Valley style). Why are people in such a hurry here? They opened up a new Washington Mutual branch in the Madonna "Mall". I was talking to the owner of Royal Thai the other day and he was telling me how glad he was that they opened that branch so he wouldn't have to drive all the way downtown (2.5 miles) to go to the bank. We both live near Laguna Lake, but it is now a 35 second drive as opposed to a four minute drive. Will we Obispan's ever truly achieve total perfection?
They have installed "Self-Checkout" aisles in my local Albertson's. It's funny watching people try to use them, or listen to their comments about them in the REAL lines. Public Group behavior is funny. It's like they were the same people in the early 1900's that saw their first automobile or something like that. I will use the REAL aisles because it may help the cherks keep their job for an extra few weeks since the goal is obviously to replace them with these robots. I am sure the savings will be passed onto us!
I will miss someone asking me the; always annoyoing- "Paper or Plastic?"
PRINCE - MUSICOLOGY TOUR AFTERSHOW
June 3rd/4th, 2004 - House of Blues, Hollywood, California
Picture-1
Prince announced on June 2nd that he would play a midnight show at the tiny House of Blues in Hollywood. My friend Ben and I got tickets since would be a pretty rare event to see him in a small club. He played on June 3rd at the 19,000 seat Staples Center in downtown L.A. and he was then going to play a 2nd show that night at HOB and the doors were going to open at midnight.
Got to Ben's house and he was asleep so I had to wake him up. We got to HOB at about 12:30 and it was a mob scene. There were two lines to get in and they both went down the block in either direction. One went up Sunset Blvd and all the way past the Riot House and the other went into the residential section of Hollywood. I have never seen anything like it before for a small club.
There was a smaller line in the middle for the vip section so Ben and I stood there since it was more interesting and there was no way were going to the end of one of those lines.
I went up and started trying to work one of the security guys for some help and just then he let Damon Wayans walk in. I said hi to Damon and he said hi back. We were right in front of the paparrazzi and they were checking Ben and I out to see if we were anybody famous. Dan Aykroyd was there too (he owns the place) and the crowds were cheering and he walked accross the street to the Mondrian Hotel with his body-guard.
We stood around watching the stars and hanging out with the other people who were trying to do what we were. The line we were in started moving so we just stood there and boom, we were in.
It was about 1:30 a.m.
The band had already started playing and we got a pretty good spot right on the floor in front of the stage. Since we were one of the first ones in, we were able to get some drinks before Prince came on. His band was playing and he was not onstage yet. We parked ourselves and grooved with the band. He had three saxaphonists and two of them were Maceo Parker and Candy Daflur. There were some timbales on stage so we knew that Shiela E. would be showing up as well. The crowd was going crazy waiting for him to show up.
I had always wanted to see him live, but not in some big arena. I had seen his latest dvd on my last plane ride back from Brazil. I got upgraded to 1st class so they give you a little dvd player and your own dvd's.
It was live in Las Vegas at a smaller club, but the HOB was much smaller. He finally came out and it was still kind of emtpy in the club and people were still trying to file in. The place went nuts when he got onstage and he didn't sing at first. He came out playing his Fender Telecaster guitar and jamming with the band. Since they had just done a show at the Staples Center, I assumed they were pretty warmed up and just wanted to jam.
The setting was pretty intimate for them as well and it turned into a big jam session. Nothing was scripted and there was no set list.
They went into an extended funk jam and then he went into a funk-out version of "Controversy" which meddlied into other songs.
By the time it was over, it was 3:30 a.m.
What a night.
May 27th, 2004 - San Luis Obispo, California
Bryan, Kevin, and I had our first band practice in quite some time and it was great. We jammed on some new songs and played extended versions of "Dream" and "Ride". Kevin also sang a song that he wrote (while playing drums), so we are going to turn into "Night Ranger" any minute now. May have a gig on Saturday night. Another gorgeous day in Califoria as well. Lakers won and I made spaghetti for dinner. There is a mouse living in my garage now. I have named it Floyd.
I just finished building a website for my friend Ben's band. You can check it out at www.johnnysrocket.com. This is a straight-ahead, no chaser Rock band. There are mp3 samples as well.
I have also build a website for my friend Larry's band www.stellarblueband.com and they are an amazing Grateful Dead tribute band. Check that one out as well. I am waiting for the dns to propigate around the root servers, (geek-speak) so the link may not be up yet.
May 23rd, 2004 - San Luis Obispo, California
Drove up to Piedras Blancas to see the elephant seals. It's the time of year when the younger ones shed their coat. There were a couple of thousand seals there. It is about an hour north of San Luis Obispo on Highway 1. We went a little farther than Ragged Point and then turned around and came back. Stopped by Morro Bay for Farmers Market and fed the seals at the aquarium. Spent Sunday at Avila Beach and caught some good waves. There was a shark attack there recently so I was a little heads up.
My friend Felipe is Brazil is getting married. I have been all over Brazil with him over the years. Once we went to Brasilia for a conference at the Bluetree Hotel. and the cab driver who picked us up had the local rock station on and Led Zeppelin's Since I Been Loving You just came on and Felipe and I looked at each other and asked him to blast it, which he did. We all played out a "Wayne's World" type scenario. Last time we were down in Sao Paolo, we had an awesome concert at the Gran Melia hotel.
Nice to be back in California for the weekend. Went downtown in San Luis Obispo and they are working on two new parking structures to handle the traffic. I should take some pictures of what it looks like before and after. I have lived in San Luis Obispo for three years now and was in Shell Beach for seven years before that and I really miss living there, even though it's only seven minutes away. I would like to get a 2-person kayak this summer and get out as much as I can.
May 16th, 2004 - San Juan Puerto Rico - CELEBRITY SIGHTING
Spent six days in San Juan with Patrick. We stayed at the Intercontinal Hotel in Isla Verda which was cool. Worked alot and saw the sights at night. It rained like crazy most of the time we were there and the traffic was insane. There were flash floods and water everywhere. Friday it stopped raining and Silvio Negron took us out. We went to a locals place called "Plazita" which is a large area of bars and restaurants and they block the streets off and everyone drinks in the street. Alot of the bars have music coming out of them and people are dancing in the streets in front of the bars. I have never seen anything like it before. It was pretty cool. Gambling is legal in Puerto Rico so it's like Las Vegas. We played slots and I think Patrick played cards while I was somewhere else. Overall I think we made $30. Also, since Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory everything is in U.S. dollars. No conversion headaches. The last night we were there we went to a cool hotel on the water with a bar called Enchantress next to the Wyndam El San Juan. That is the mega hotel with the techno club/salsa club/ casino/cigar bars/etc....
We had some really interesting taxi rides during the heavy rains. The first guy we had was about 120 years old and it was raining inside the cab. Minutes after we took off, it started pouring and he did not bother to turn his windshield wipers on. We could not see outside. I tried pointing this out to him, but I starled him and seemed to snap him out of a trance which was not a great idea. After the rain stopped, he turned his windshield wipers on.
The only sound now, was the rubber squeaking against the windshield. Again, I tried speaking in spanish this time and was pointing to the wipers. Once more, he awoke from his trance state and was startled. Since he saw me pointing forwards, he thought I was asking him to get off the freeway per the offramp that just happend to just to our right. He swerved over and now people are honking at him and Patrick is yelling in english and me in spanish for him to stay on the freeway. It was a busy nine seconds of action. For some reason, we drove in a triple circle and arrived at our destination. WE had given him the wrong address and he took us to the place that we needed to go. Everybody in that taxi was wrong, but it all worked out. If we would have given him the correct address, we would have been somewhere else.
We also we to a chicken fight which was different. It is part of the culture of Puerto Rico and something that was very different for Patrick and I, but that's how the world is. You have to respect cultural differences; it's not all about Starbucks and mini-malls. Here is a picture that patrick took inside the "stadium". The people inside are very passionate about the fights. They even televise them here. There were many mega-bets going on as well. One guy in front of us had a hugh stack of $100 bills that he was counting. We were only there for about ten minutes.
On the flight back I went non-stop from San Juan to Los Angeles and Kenny G. was on my flight. I got upgraded to first class (nice on an eight-hour flight) and he was there with his band. Since I had a guitar with me, the guy sitting next to me thought I was with them until I assured him that I wasn't. I think they were playing his MUZAK over the p.a. while loading the plane for takeoff. Fortified with Irony. The plane ride back was great until we hit some really bad turbulance over Houston, Texas. The in-flight movie was "Intolerable Cruelty" which was pretty good.
May 11th, 2004 - Miami Florida
Back in Miami. Weather is nice. Patrick and I are seeing customers here and went out driving around and went to a club called Mango's in South Beach again. it's like a Salsa version of Coyote Ugly or Cowgirl's Inc. in Seattle. There were two people from Colombia that we were working with and we went out with them. It really doesn't matter what day of the week you are in Miami. It's always happening. We also found a great Argentinian place called "The Knife" in Sunrise, Florida.
May 8th, 2004 - Minneapolis, Minnesota - Steve Schefsky's wedding
Landed in Minnesota Thursday night On the flight out from L.A. on Northwest Airlines, I struck up a converstaion with one of the flight attendants at the back of the plane. Somehow, we started talking about television and then the other flight attendant say "oh no, here it comes..." The first flight attendant was a die hard fan of the t.v. show Bonanza and she went and got a huge stack of pictures to show me. She had one of "Little Joe's" jackets and even won a "Little Joe" Look-alike contest at the last convention. Then she told me some trivia about one of the characters, Hop-Sing. In real life he was on a plane that was Hi-Jacked and that he had been shot. She kept saying "Hi-jack" over and over and I started getting a little nervous since she was kind of loud and we were on an airplane. Eventually she got the attention of the lead flight attendant who told me to go back to my seat and she gave "Little Jo-ann" some dirty looks. We landed without incident.
Ski picked me up from the airport at about 11:30. He had been at Karaoke in St. Paul. He sang his song, picked me up and made it back for his next song. I got up and sang Comfortably Numb, which is a very weird song for Karaoke. Friday, spent the day in the Minneapois office and worked and saw some famililar faces. Went out to lunch with the Netserv crew which was great. Went bowling friday night and they let me keep score, so I bowled a 320, Heather bowled a 420 and Ski scored a world-record 7403! If you bowl a 300 they are supposed to put your picture on the "wall of fame" which they didn't.
Late that evening, Heather, Ski, and I went downtown to Sex World (three floors of stuff) to buy some "things" to decorate Adina and Steve's bridal suite. Your imagination can take over from here...
Saturday was the wedding. I had to work on some last minute things for Argentina so I brought my laptop and my guitar since we would have some down time between the wedding and rehearsal. The wedding was great and Adina and Steve did a great job. All of his family was there from Wisconsin and they were a great bunch. Steve's little sisters and Adina's sister Carrie were the bridesmaids and Ski was best man.
Sometime during the reception, Ski and I got ourselves into the bridal suite and "decorated" the room. The highlights were the "big blue thing" and the "inflatable sheep". It was pretty baaaaaaad. Steve went up to the room (which he wasn't supposed to) and UN-decorated it since his parents were going to be changing up there. We found this out and RE-decorated the room again after they had changed.
The reception was great. Ski gave a pretty good best man speech and after first bride-groom dance, the guitar players hung out outside (in the smoking section of course) and jammed into the night while dancing was happening inside. I floated from one to the other. Steve's 16 year old cousin Jason came in from Wisconsin and is a really great guitar player. He has been playing since he was 10.
I am on a plane right now going from Minneapolis to Atlanta, then on to Miami for three days and then off to Puerto Rico. I really like the Minneapolis airport.
Los Angeles - Disneyland - Sunday May 2nd, 2004
Saturday night ent to see Larry's band Stellar Blue down at Joxer Daley's in Culver City. They are a Grateful Dead tribute band and they are great. Larry picked me up. They did three sets which were all great. We spent the day in Chinatown near downtown L.A. and had some good food and Mei did some shopping.
Sunday spent the day at the Disneyland with Isabella and Mei. It was really a blast and it was really hot. Isabella had been there last October, but now she is a little older and could do more. She really loved Minnie's house in ToonTown and Mickey's living room. We went on It's a Small World twice since there was no line. That was great. The Dumbo ride was fun and we saw the Fantasia Water Show. Isabella and I spent some time in the gift shop with Mei while she shopped and Isabella was mesmerized by the keychain stand and kept taking keychains off and putting them back on and handing them to people walking by. I think she liked that as much as any ride. It was a really great time.
May 1st, 2004 San Luis Osibpo, California
Ah, back home. Flew back from Mexico City last night. Each taxi ride that I took in Mexico City took over an hour. That is such a huge city and it's mostly streets. I used to think L.A. had alot of people. Tried not to smoke during the day and it paid off. I felt much better. The flight back was pretty smooth and I had a window seat, in a row of three. The lady in the middle seat was getting up every 10 minutes or so. This caused the lady sitting in the aisle to have to get up. She was trying to watch the in-flight movie as well and would make comments in Spanish under her breath. She was not happy. Finally, I had to excuse myself to use the facilites and I was the straw that broke the camel's back. She gave me a hard glance and did the deep sigh thing.
The lady on the end was very large as well. She was maybe, 6' 2" (188 centimeters) tall and she had trouble fitting in the seat to begin with. It was not easy for her. Somewhere over Arizona, I had to use the bathroom again, but I held it. Didn't want to take any chances at 35,000 feet (10,000 meters) in the air.
We landed at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at the LAX and there were also about four jumbo jets (747's) that had landed coming in from Asia so the customs and immigrations lines were astronomical. Having only carry on luggage, I wiggled my way to the front of the line (like a motorcycle moving through heavy traffic) and did not get inspected! I brought some chocolates back for Mei, and bought some duty-free Camel Lights when I was going out.
I took the "A" bus to the United Terminal to catch the twin-prop flight to San Luis Obispo. In the small terminal I saw a familiar face (not a celeb sighting) and it was Sherri!. We used to work at The Grid (a local SLO ISP) together. We were part of a pretty tight group and she lived in Shell Beach back then as well. The "Grid Parties" were pretty notorious and she and her husband Dave were always there. She had two kids with her and they were hers! They were on their way back from Florida and Dave was picking her up at the airport. Her daughter Haley gave me some gum which was great, since I was all out. Dave was picking them up so I got to see him. They also got to meet Mei, who was my ride home. It was great seening them again. Got their new number and hopefully we will all hang out again. After I left "The Grid", it moved and then was sold to Earthlink and everyone kind of drifted. I still keep in touch with some old "Gridsters". In fact, the rehersal space for our band is in the original Grid warehouse.
CELEBRITY SIGHTING!
April 28th, 2004 - Los Angeles International Airport
On my way to Mexico on United I walked from Terminal 7 to Terminal 6 and Catherine Keener was standing there kind of looking lost. I made eye-contact and smiled at her. Thought about the autograph but wanted to get to the only smoking section at LAX so I could have one before my flight. If you don't know who Catherine Keener is; she was in "Being Jon Malkovitch, and Death to Smoochy". Go rent those tonight. The flight was really turbulant and was made worse by the fact that I was in the very last row. I have some slight altitude sickness again, but I'm trying not to smoke and drinking lots of water. Mexico City is higher than Denver I think. I am staying at the Airport Hilton and the hotel is INSIDE the airport. I look out my window and see ticket counters. Also, the restaurant looks right at the main runways. It's pretty cool actually.
March 29th, 2004 - San Luis Obispo, California.
Now I know why I live in California. The weather has been gorgeous here. Think I will go to the beach tonight and go boogie boarding. Bryan and his wife had their daughter this weekend as well.
March 21st, 2004 - Los Angeles, California.
My friend Julie got married and it was a nice service. Went to the dinner beforehand and met some nice people. Still a little tired from my trips but a very relaxing time and met some nice people as well. Her cousin Evan had not been to L.A. for a while so I gave him the three hour tour and that was fun. Michael Eisner (CEO of Disney) was there.
March 20th, 2004 - Sao Paolo, Brazil
What a week. This was my 12th time in Brazil and Patricks second. We landed in Guarhulios airport and got really lucky. Americans have to be photographed now (quid-pro-quo) coming into the country since we do it to the Brazilians coming into the states. I have heard horror stories of this taking eight hours to complete because of the lines (yes, it's true). Since we were coming in from Chile, we were the only two American's on the plane. The plane was also continuing on to Rio De Janiero (which we should have gone to) so we made it through customs/immigration in seconds! Went to the duty free to get some cigarettes and this guy dropped a bottle of whisky right behind which shattered into a million pieces. It got me a little, but this other guy pretty much had his whole shoe drenched.
We hung out with Kibe and his wife all day on Sunday and just played guitar and drank beer and sang for hours which was great. He has a really great apartment which over looks Morumbi in Sao Paolo. Then he turned us on to some great Brazilian Music and we watched the dvd for Tribalistas and Patrick and I were just blown away. They are a Brazlian super-group made up of Marisa Monte, Carlitos Brown, and Arnoldo. It was the dvd on the making of the cd which is a huge hit down there. I really love Brazilian music. Later in the evening, they took us to a brilliant Italian restraunt and I of course ordered the Cuban chicken. (go figure)
There is an extremely heavy Italian influence in Brazil and there is a 2 million + japanese community as well. I used to think that L.A. was a big city, then I went to NY. NY is like a little hamlet compared to Sao Paolo. I think it's the fourth largest city in the world and has about 30 Million people. Traffic can be mind numbing (worse than Thailand) and there are motorcycles darting through cars at lightning speeds.
One of the girls in our office, Maritza's husband died last year on a motorcycle. It's pretty dangerous. It's really not a good idea to ever stick your hand out of the window either when you are in a car. You may lose it. Took Patrick to Morumbi Plaza as well. My Portugese is really getting better as well. I really like Brazil and all of the friends that I have there. Monday night, Felipe Prado (one of my greatest friends in the world, literaly) came down to Gran Melia with his friend Rodrigo who was also a musician. There was a guy playing piano in the main bar and we all went outside and played my guitar on the outdoor patio. Rodrigo went first and all of our jaws just dropped. He was and incredible Brazilian music player and was an awesome singer. Turns out he is a vocal teacher as well and a really cool guy. I noticed the guy playing piano in the lounge bar was done for the night so I went in the and asked if we could play there. Since that is my home away from home and everybody knows me there, they said okay. We had to find a cord to go to the amp and a 9volt battery (which the bellhop snagged from the managers calculator or something). Concert time, Rodrigo goes first and just blows doors. There are pictures of this under my music pages). I went next and did "Plush, Stairway to Heaven" and "Hotel California". Then Felipe went on the did some STP and Pink Floyd. Rodrigo came back out and did an amazing set of origionals and everyone pretty much stopped in their tracks to watch this guy. It was such a blast.
Hate to leave. There was a customs officials strike here and it was taking people 5-6 hours to leave the airport and people we missing their flights like crazy. I left on Friday and they had reached a 72 hour truce the day before so I got out pretty quickly. Bumped up to first class which was nice and hung out in the first class lounge where you can smoke and everything is free.
March 12th, 2004 - Santiago, Chile
Chile has been great. Patrick and I are at the Ritz Carlton in Santiago and it's been great here. Went out one night with Miami Victors friend Jaime who took us to a club that was okay for a while, then the music got way too Chilean for me. Hooked up with some other people and held a jam session till the wee hours in our hotel room. Got up way early and Fernando Salinas took us to his ranch for an awesome, awesome, day with Renzo and his family. They made killer bbq. Some of those pics are found under my Chile pages. The drive out to his ranch and getting outside of the city was amazing. You really see different cultures and meet people that have never left that region of Chile. It's pretty amazing. Our world gets so bombarded with busy-ness that it's eye-opening when you spend time away from it all, and not at some touristy place either. Fernando also has a swimming pool so we just laid back all day. I played some guitar for a while and we had a sing-along. It was an amazing day and a nice way to come off a long night of nightlife.
This was Patrick's first time in Santiago and I have probably been there about ten times. We hooked up with some of my local friends there as well and ate like kings everyday for pennies. I really love Chile. On Saturday I took him downtown to the main plaza where everything is happening at once from street vendors, to street performers and everything else in between. We took the subway alot as well which was cool since there was a stop right at the Ritz Carlton in the area of Santiago called "Las Condes". Did another night with the group that we met at the club and had another blast. They were all from a city called Rancauwa and they drive a couple hours just to hang with us again. I accidently stepped on my guitar case (soft bag) and cracked it. Trash can time.
March 5th, 2004 - Miami, Florida
We spent a few days in Miami and had a good trip. Victor from X-2000 took us out for a night on the town and we went extreme club hopping. We got into Sky-Bar and there was a private function within Sky-Bar that we got into. Even beyond that, there was another private party within THAT one which we got into. There was ANOTHER private party within that one that we did NOT get into; so we felt like losers. It was pretty funny. We hit South Beach, a Jazz Club, some techno clubs. Miami really has its own speed and there is no other city like it. We went to this really great cabana restaurant too that felt really Cuban, but that was during the day. We stayed at the hotel near the airport instead of in the heart or we wouldn't have gotten anything done. Victor is the ultimate mad-man party guy. It was like 4:00 a.m. and he wanted to hit the after hours, even though Patrick and I had a meeting at 9:00 a.m. We took a pass. Leaving, the plane was really late leaving so I busted out my guitar and started playing in the airport. There was also a mouse running around the terminal and all of the girls were screaming (not because of my guitar playing).
February, 2004 - Courtney Love Concert: Hollywood, California
Got tickets for an evening with some friends that were going to come to L.A. on a hop from Hawaii to Paris. They never made it so Steve, Ben, Ashley, and I went. Was within four feet from her the whole time. She threw me a cigarette and the bouncer came all the way down front to take it away from me until I told him that she threw it. We were too close to the stage to hear any music. It was all about the experience anyway. Go Courtney!
February, 2004 - Hollywood, California
One of the greatest guys in the world, Gerhard from Munich and his wife Nadia came to L.A. for a few days on their way back from Hawaii. Got to take them out on the town. Picked them up in the Benz from the Bevely Hilton and went to the Chinese Theatre which was being setup for the Oscars. The big gold statues were already out front and we got some pictures. Then we went to Catalina's Bar and Grill to see Kenny Garrett, the sax player from the Miles Davis group. There was this 20 year old drummer named Ronald Bruner who stole the show. It was amazing. After that, we went to the Rainbow Bar and Grill and headed up stairs where there was an Asian punk band playing and they were really good. Went downstairs to the smoking area and just as we are passing the small downstairs bar, the air is filled with marijuana smoke and there is a girl smoking a joint in the bar. Right as we are walking past this and getting to the patio, we cross two L.A. County Sherrifs walking in. After we made it about another five feet and sat down and lit a cigarette, we see the cops walking out; not arresting anyone, but carrying a pizza to go. The Rainbow is also an Italian restaurant. It is also a great rock star bar. Over the years I have seen everyone from John Entwhistle from The Who to John Candy to Axl to Lemmy to....it just goes on and on. ON that particular night, Mello Man Ace was sitting at the table next to us. Tons of girls were coming up to him for "autographs" and he had his posse with him. Gerhard and Nadia got to see a real live rap star. Just another Tuesday night in L.A.......
February, 2004 - Seattle, Washington
Ashley and I went to Seattle for a week which was really cool. Hung out with Patrick and Amanda which was great. Ashley and I went to see Linkin Park, P.O.D., and a couple other bands at the Tacoma Dome while we were there. I got some tickets on Ebay which were the best seats in the whole arena. The show was really great and we ended up taking a Greyhound back to Seattle. Went to Space Needle and IMP the next day. I also took the ferry over to Port Orchard one night to meet some of the guys that my father used to play with when he was in High School. He played drums for these guys and they are still around! It was pretty cool hanging out with them. I'm going back for sure. The ferry ride was cool, you only have to pay one-way, the return is free. I like Seattle alot. It's a nice city. Also took Ashley to Pike Place Market and she got to see the new office up there.
Iron Maiden - Jan 2004 - Los Angeles, California
Went with Steve, Ashley, Carrie, Mark, and one of Steve's friends from work to the Universal Ampitheatre. It was a great show and our tickets were okay. They had three guitar players (Smith, Murray, Gers) and the night before Bruce Dickinson fell off the stage and almost didn't make it to the show we saw, which was the second night. Ashley and Carrie had a great time since it was the first time they had seem them. When I first got the tickets, I loaded Ashley up on all the classic Maiden and she really liked it. Up the Irons!
Chinese New Year - Jan 2004 - Singapore
Gong Xi Fa Choi. Things are really great over here. Went to a really great dinner for CNY that was setup by one of Sis's friends whose father pulled some strings to get us to that restautnat. Bobby and Matt took me to ICB for some drinks, then we met everyone at Avalon for more drinks. Ended up at Crazy Elephant again and Foxy got me onstage with the blues band which was really great. That was right before the pitchers of Vodka/Redbull came out. Played some vanhalen-type blues solos which was cool. Most of the guys didn't even know I played guitar so they were really surprised. Spent the night in Osaka, Japan on the way out. It's a really great city. I really don't want to go home.
David Bowie Concert - Jan 2004 - Minneapolis, Minnesota
David Bowie was playing accross the street from our hotel so Tonio Sollano and I bailed from the company dinner and bought some tickets off someone and we noticed that there were alot of open seats down from so we simply walked down there and sat down. The show was amazing! He did a wide range of stuff (new, old, obscure, covers) and didn't turn it into a greatest hits gig, which would have been okay anyway since it's Bowie. Earl Slick played guitar and he is great. He was John Lennon's guitar player and did alot of the older Bowie records as well, like "Fame". Bowie talked to the crowd alot and even to people in the audience. It was almost like he was doing standup. There were alot of songs that he didn't play, but that just goes to show what an amazing catalog of songs he has. He did do "Fame", "Fashion", etc... We had a great, great time.
SCC International Conference - Jan 2004 - Minneapolis, Minnesota
Truly one of my favorite weeks of the year. All of the SCC people that I know from around the world in one place. Partied with Gerhard and Matt (Germany & Austrailia) at the same time which is always great. Had the usual guitar concert in the bar the last night with the big sing-along. It was cool. Victor and I really jammed on Redemption Song and we did that into the wee hours again. Minnesota is cold during January. Played the Artists Quarter in St. Paul on Monday night along with Peter from California and Eric Krieger from Sydney. Laz was there and Ski mc'd the evening. Eric and I did a blues jam, then I did Stairway to Heavan which went over pretty well I think. Off to Singapore right after this to hang with Matt Gyde.
David Lee Roth - New Years Eve - Hollywood, California
Um, went with Mei, Ben, and Steve to House of Blues on Sunset Blvd. saw the man himself put on an excellent show. He did all the VH stuff and really not that much of his solo stuff. Everybody was screaming and singing alot at the top of their lungs. He was in great shape and was doing his jump kicks and everything. We were really really close to him and really close to the front of the stage. H.O.B. is a small club to begin with...
August 9th, 2003 - Dallas, Texas
Sitting on the runway at Dallas/Ft. Worth airport. Lightning strikes are hitting the jetways so we are just sitting here. It has been about 1/2 an hour so far. It has been raining pretty hard and the descent was rough. Lot's of drops and swaying to and fro. Last night was okay. Went out with Enrique and his crew. Didn't eat all day and then sucked down some Gin and Tonics and saw a singer who sang Morrisette-type songs in spanish that I didn't understand. Then we went to a "salsa" club and danced and danced and danced. One of the girls that went with us was named Pearla and she was pretty cool. Enrique's wife Monica went as well. Last time I was there they took me to her uncle's ranch outside of the city which was cool. He has a bunch of horses there but we didn't ride. Anyway, the trip was good but short. I would have like to stay for the weekend since there was a bunch of fun stuff going on. I'm on the plane again and got upgraded to first class which is cool. We should be landing in L.A. in about an hour or so and I'm renting an Avis and driving home since I have to pick up Ashley in the SFV. Talked to Billy today on the phone from the airport.
August 8th, 2003 - Monterey, Mexico You can fry eggs on the sidewalks out here. Man, it is really, really hot. Work is okay, but floating around the city going from place to place wears you down after a while. I am not drinking enough water. Ate at Applebee's which was very exotic. I have been eating alot of local food as well. My guy down here Miguel left me at the "Tec". These were the first guys to get mega-bandwidth lines in Mexico and they are pretty smart. The handle all of the domain names for Mexico as well so they rake in cash. Spent about four hours with them then bailed into another hot taxi. At least this one didn't get lost. I have a craving for some home cooked food. I have been traveling for a while now.
August 6th, 2003 - Monterey, Mexico
Why is it that the worst drivers in the world get jobs riding people around in Taxis? If I were a really bad glass-cutter, the last place that would hire me would be a glass factory. Today found me in the back of a Taxi and my chauffer did not know the place that I directed him to, but he kept driving around anyway. We just kept driving around and I figured out that he did not know where we were going or how to get there. We pulled up next to another taxi at a stop light and I leaned my head out of the window (not a smart move) and asked him if he knew where "Linda Vista" was and he replied yes and asked me to jump into his cab and he would take me there. The light then turned green and my inaction caused him to motor away. Not sure if my guy was playing dumb, but we found my destination and I paid less than what my origional estimate was.
It is hot in Monterey right now and the girls are scantily clad. These sights around the city kept my drivers eyes off the road most of the time. We almost bought the farm a few times. He had a nervous tic that caused him to flail his hands over the steering wheel every 30 seconds or so; voodoo-fashion. Rarely do I wish for some black-magic chicken powder (or equivilent) , but I could have used some today. The seatbelt did not snap together either. No chant was going to fix it.
I spent the day in a planning meeting with five other people to figure out how one of the largest ISP's in Mexico is going to offer content-filtering for kids on the Internet. Pretty weird that whatever happens all over the country is coming out of this meeting and I'm starring at the walls. There is an issue that they need to fix to change incoming users to ip addresses, but my part is done. What's for lunch??
CELEBRITY SIGHTING! Cindy Crawford - August 5h, 2003 - SLO/DALLAS/MEXICO
The plane ride over was fun. Took off from SLO and arrived at our lovely airport to find that AMEX hosed my reservation so I did not have a seat on the outgoing plane. I watched it take off when the phone rang and they found another route for me and changed me from United to American Airlines at a much lower fare. Not bad for last minute. I saw an old friend from my Shell Beach days at the airport and she was behind me on the flight out. She had her new baby Isabella with her and they were off to Boston for a few weeks. It was a nice surprise and she sat right behind me on the plane. So I'm standing in the Platinum VIP line for American Airlines and this guys trys to cut in front of me and I'm like "Whoa" and he is trying to drag a very tall lady with him. I notice a mole on her face and it's Cindy Crawford. I smile and say "Hi Cindy" and she says hi back. I had no choice but to get out of the guys way. Cindy got searched at the checkpoint.
Universal Studios Hollywood - August 2003
The weeked was spent at Universal with Ashley and Cari. It was Cari's first time. When we took the tram ride we went right past the Ampitheatre backlot where they were staging the media circus for the pre-Teen Choice awards. I think I saw Britney, but I'm not quite sure. Kobe Bryant was there and received an award for Best Athlete.
Someone made a comment that:
Joke: Kobe doesn't give teens a choice.
August 1st, 2003 - SLOTOWN
I am on a really long conference call right now... I woke up at 6:45 a.m. since it was supposed to start at 7:00 a.m. and checked mail and found out that it was postponed until 9:30 a.m. I had a Lean-Pocket for breakfast. I have to be in Texas and Mexico next week and I just want to say home. My loft needed a good Paper-Exorcism so I have filled both little trash cans full of junk mail, grocery store weeklies, and bills. Sometimes I come home and something is shut off since I wasn't around to pay the bill. Everything was on this time! Progress! Even my DirecTV was still on... bonus....
SARS... Someone asked me about the SARS thing in Singapore and when you walk into a mall there you have to go through the people with the ear-thermometers that check your temperature before you are allowed in! If you temp is over 38 degress (celcius, americans can do your own conversion) you are not allowed in. It was the same thing coming off the airplane as well, but I don't remember getting screened when I left Singapore and they didn't check in L.A. Oh well, I made it and didn't get SARS. I think more people were killed this year from listening to Barry Manillow records than from SARS.
I hate SPAM! I run my own mail server and have been running some spam filters for frosting.com and junk keeps pouring through. Are there really that many people in Russia that care enought about whether or not I need Viagra? They must really, really care about me since they send me hundreds of emails every day! Who have they been talking to? That's what I want to know....
I tried sending a mail to Ying-Ying and it didn't get through because of the spam. I figured out my mistake and now the filters should work. This conference call is still going. There are people in: San Jose, CA; Mexico City, Bogota Columbia, Concord CA, and me in San LUis Obispo, CA on this call..... Thank god for the mute button on a speaker-phone since I have "StereoLab" blasting from my p.c. speakers. I bought some new external speakers at Fry's the last time I was up there.
The greatest band in the world, "KOMEDA" has a new album out, but it's only available in Sweden at press time. Cheap Thrills can get me a copy of it, but it's going to be in the $30+ range. They are a band from Umea, Sweden and my favorite albums of theirs are sung in Swedish. I have no idea what they are saying, but it's still my favorite music. They are playing at the Malmo Music Festival in Sweden at the end of this month. I am tempted to burn some frequent flyer miles and go see them. Andy Haller's old singer Paul lives in Malmo and I'm sure I can crash on his couch. Since the Moss Stock festival is happening at the end of the month I'm probably not going to Sweden. They are supposed to tour the U.S. next year so I guess I can wait. I have not seen them in person since they are very reclusive. It's almost 11:00 a.m. and I'm still on the conference call..... Wish I was in Singapore this weekend, but glad I'm home. I think I will go to Avila and do some boogie-boarding and get some clam chowder at the NEW Olde Custom House. I miss the old one.... anyway... Billy wants to hang out this weekend, but I'm probably going to Universal Studios Hollywood with Ash and Kari. Since I'm there, we will go to the Sanamluang Cafe in North Hollywood which is the world's greatest restaurant. They are open until 4:00 a.m. everyday. When I lived in NOHO we used to go there at 3:00 a.m. for some General's Noodles (dry). Anyway, I'm STILL on the conference call and I'm ready to open a vein. Got some new dvd's Black Adder Goes Forth which is amazing and Spongebob's Tide and Seek which has some really good episodes. I want to have someone build me a Spongebob guitar.. I'm still on the conf call and somebody is making really really bad puns; they are not punny! Last night on "Get Smart" the villian was named Heir Bunny.
The conference call is almost over!!!!!!!.... false alarm.... it's still going.... ugh...I have another conf call at 12:00 noon and I was hoping to get some nap time in before the start.... Ugh, one more question from Jimmy.... one more question.... oh man, it's almost over again... another long winded, wait.... it's done!
July 31th, 2003 - SLOTOWN
I went to Denny's TWICE yesterday to get over the asian food crisis that I had in Singapore and Malaysia. Even though I love Asian food and eat it all the time, I o.d.'d over there. I ate at the Chicken-Rice-Xprs everyday since it was right down stairs from Matt's place on Killeney Road. There was a Yoshinoya Beef bowl nearby as well. It's quick and cheap but I really needed a Denny's fix. I had the Grand-Slam both times. I was thinking about a burger, but even the picture looked bad in the menu and you know that the real item NEVER lives up to the picture on a Denny's menu. Paid some bills, got my new tag for my Jeep with two days to spare. Went downtown to City Hall and paid my water and signed up for the auto-debit thing. SloTown is so 21st Century now! I hung around City Hall with Ashley and we looked at all of the the old pictures of slotown in the hallways. There used to be a hugh hotel called the Ramona in downtown and it burned down in the early 1900's.
The picture of the place is really great and it was a massive structure.. Alot of buildings burned down back then which is sad. This may not be the Cluny in Paris, but slotown does have some history of it's own.... There Wherehouse is gone! That was a cool music store here in town. Sure I shop at Cheap Thrills and other places, but I kept a nice rotation going and they always had the coolweiredest people working there. I'll miss that place for sure. Those houses on Los Osos Valley Road are going up like crazy... Everytime I come back, something changes here.. More frequently these days... Saw Jessica downtown yesterday. I was calling her at work when I looked up and she was honking at me! good timing. We were pulling out of Second Time Around (whose last day is today) because everything was 75% off, but I didn't buy anything. Ashley got an armful of skirts for 10.00. We then went to Sandy's with her and met up with Natalie. It was the first time I had seen her since her breast-enhancement surgury and she showed me her new her. They are definately bigger, but she didn't go extra-value meal or anything. I think she regrets that.... anyway...went to Best Buy to see if my credit is coming anytime soon...same old story with them... they are going to give me a gift card for all of my pain and suffering so I am going to blow it all on DVD's. Mike and I were on t.v. again. It seems that KCCE is showing re-runs of our show "Finally It's Friday". Ashley told me that she saw it in Paso.
I may go to Universal Studios this weekend and Mexico next week with Ashley. We shall see... The Mossstock show is coming very very soon.... I have not even rehearsed for it..... It's going to end up being me and Trevor doing another bongo/guitar thing... which would be cool. My new double-neck guitar should be coming soon. Bought it off ebay....
Have to get my drive in fix tonight....
July 29th, 2003 - SLOTOWN
The flight seemed really short. It was six hours to Japan and then another 12 to LAX. I went first class and sat upstairs on the 747-200 which really rocks! There are only a few seats up there and I had a windows so I get my own shelf next to the window, apart from a fully-reclining seat. I sat next to a Japanese girl who kept asking me to turn her personal t.v. on and off since she couldn't figure it out. We had a quick layover in Narita and I think they built a new terminal there. NorthWest Airlines used to be in this circular end of the tower, but is now in a nicer and newer part of the airport. I have been to Narita airport more times than I can remember. The lines for food were outrageous so I just ordered some japanese chicken nuggets and a Coke from the bar. I sat next to some Americans and there was this one really loud guy talking about the situation in Korea. "In my opinion, THEY SHOULD do THIS....etc.etc..blah..blah.."
you get the picture
I have met some pretty cool americans overseas; they are usually the kind of people that I would hang out with at home, but there are some real idiots out there that I wouldn't even give the time of day to. Alot of people overseas sort of lump us all together. Being an american overseas is not always cool. you have to prove yourself. The French have the same bad rap, especially the Parisians, but when Ashley and I went over there, we had the coolest time. We thought the Parisians were cool, but then again, we were cool with them. We attempted to speak French and learned alot before we went over there. They are used to people barking at them in English, Spanish, German, or whatever... I learned alot on this trip. I got into an argument (fake) with a drunk girl from Boston over the L.A.- Boston sports rivarly and the curse of Babe Ruth. Her friends showed up and got into an arguement with my friend from Australia about dating Asian girls. They were all pretty drunk at that point.
July 28th, 2003 - Sinagpore
Last day in Singapore for a while. Had drinks with with crew at the Elephant Bar. First with Tomo, then Henry and Xina showed, then Fox later. Went back to Fox's for a nightcap before my flight. This has been a really great trip and I will really miss this place. Anita and her girls were at the Elephant.
July 27th, 2003 - Sinagpore
Went to the Singapore Zoukout on Sentosa Island which went until 7:00 a.m. Went with Henry and his people and we were in a spot where there were many people that I had met in Sinapore this and last week. The war correspondant was there with his model groupies. One of the male models knocked my drink out of my hand by accident so he went and got me another one which was no small feat since it takes about 20 minutes to get through the line. There were dj's from all over the world and it was great. Singapore is such a cool place and it is very peaceful. The skyline drapped the back of the stage on the other side of the river and there was a light show projected over all of the huge buildings there. I met some very cool new people Danced non-stop most of the time. The heat was intense so you had to keep chugging whatever you could just to keep cool. Zookout!
July 23th, 2003 -singapore
Tomo rocks!
July 20th, 2003 - Singapore
Too much time in economy class has left a nice pain in my back. Going from Chile to LAX to Singapore isn't a good idea. Went to an acupunture guy in the older part of town that didn't speak english, but I pointed at stuff and he stuck needles in. That was my first time and it hurt. The suction cups afterwards were pretty bad as well. Matt took me there since he was getting his ankle done from wakeboarding.
July 16th, 2003 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Back in KL. It's hot, but not as hot as last time. Went straight to the Sushi King as soon as we landed (almost). Sushi King is a chain of sushi restaurants where you sit down and the food moves on conveyer belts past you and you grab what you want. Each plate has a different color and price. Red is most expensive; pink cheapest. At the end, they count your plates and you pay the fare. It's great. We grabbed the table next to where they add stuff so we had everything as fresh as possible (for that place). Compared to SLO prices, this stuff is almost free! The dvd shops are closed again. You could buy dvd's really cheap but I guess there was a fight between the mafia here and the govt so they are closed again. Guess that means no bootleg copy of "Look Who's Talking II" for me.
July 9th, 2003 - SLOTOWN
Home again, but leaving again. Played pool with Billy then we had a bunch of drinks and played Chess. It's the new thing I guess. I did okay. Want to hit the drive-in movies in to get my fix. Don't really care what's playing. San Luis Obispo has one of the few remaining drive-in movie theatres left. I have heard that they are starting to catch on in China. Will have to go check it out.
July 4th, 2003 - Santiago, Chile
No fireworks here in Chile, but people keep wishing me a happy 4th like it's my birthday. Wish I was in Cambria or even settle for being in Pismo (I mean on a hill looking at Pismo).