Mural Or Graffiti?

Looks like several murals are going to be removed from the streets of Los Angeles, specifically the east side, a little known ordinance allows the city to call for change. I remember driving down Soto St or Brooklyn Blvd, which is now called Cesar Chavez Blvd, my parents would call or say "por la bruk-leeen" that was back in the 1980's; we would around town and I would see an Aztec warrior holding his dead wife or girlfriend. A group of friends hanging out, some in their lowriders just having fun, but now the city is calling for change. Graffiti murals or store signs are what covers most of the street when you drive down Cesar Chavez blvd, most of the owners preffer these, than to have a gang sign tagged on the wall, or a tagger's signature piece. The city wants them removed or they have given the owners the option to have wall repainted witha different mural. I think the problem here is that the city has defined what's considered "graffiti", let's see what happens. I will drive by there one of these days and take some pictures of the famous murals that adorn the panaderias and "licorerias", liquor stores.


*****Read the complete story here*****

Crazy

Two days ago friend of mine asked me to say some MC rhymes, lol… He actually told me two days ago, he was interested in getting an F-150, I thought gas prices are insane right now and it doesn’t look to be improving either. I have a friend at work who drives Ram truck and gets 12mpg, now that is insane; my little box gets almost 15 more on a bad day. When you start to think about gas prices and how this is a natural resource that will eventually run out, we should also think about looking for alternatives sources for fuel. The car industry is offering hybrids yes, but this is not alleviating the situation either, you still need a source of fuel and we are so dependent of it. I’ve heard of cars that travel on corn oil, now this one is cool. The latest I read about and saw on TV was a modified hybrid vehicle, this car has reached anywhere between 65 and 100 mpg, this is awesome. You can now purchase these modified vehicles from small dealerships, this has to be my next car, it’s all about the gas mileage not the riding in style, you get bored in a few months/years after having the car; I’m sure this will never happen with a car that can go 1/3rd of the way to San Francisco on one gallon! Think about it, you don’t want to run over a gas station attendant because you don’t want to pay $60 worth of gas. In the end everyone will make their own choices and choose what they want, financially this would be such a burden on me, I know people who spend around $50 every time they fill up, now lets say someone puts gas in there car 6 times, that's $300 p/month., that can pay for my car and insurance payment!

Read more about the Prius here, maybe I'll convince you to buy one.

I forgot to give a shout out to the Space Shuttle Columbia the other day, I'm glad everyone made it back to earth without a scratch. The Pope in Germany for youth day, sweet! Pentagon orders 1500 more troops to Iraq, fuck off!


Driving alone has been pleasant, but I hate the time I've spent dealing with traffic. Take for example yesterday I left work at 5:20 and got home around 6:45, what can I do? No carpool buddy, no carpool lane =(

San Francisco

The anticipated day came and we were not on schedule, lol, we originally had planned on leaving to Gilroy at 7 am. We were to get up have breakfast and then get all our stuff ready and leave, well it never happened. DJ forgot her gameboy at her mother’s home and we wanted her to have something to keep herself busy for the long drive. We had to stop by and get some coffee and we stopped by Carl’s Jr.; coffee like I expected it to be was horrible, but it was something warm in my stomach, (I wonder if there is ever a time where I don’t complain about something?! Hvnly?).

Drove and drove, over the hills and prairies of our lovely central valley, until we came to highway 152 the Pacheco Pass. This was a beautiful drive, it was a hard on my Scion because we were going uphill, but the drive was peaceful. There is a man made lake along the highway; I forgot the name of it. There is an interesting and scary note events on Wikipedia about the highway we drove through, go read it here. After that great drive through the Pacheco pass we arrived to Gilroy, Garlic capital of the world. Every year they have a famous festival and anything you can imagine is cooked with garlic. I’ve always wanted to go the festival and get a chance to eat all things garlic, it was a fun place and it had great places to eat and lots of activities for the kids, but in the end I was a bit disappointed with the place; it was a fun adventure and we had a great time, one more going to the memory bank.

We were in Gilroy for a few hours and after eating and playing around there we drove up the 101 to our final destination, San Francisco. This took about 2 ½ hours to get there, I almost got lost because of an exit numbered 182 and that was the highway I needed to take once we were near San Francisco;(I seriously hate places that have street names and exit numbers, I have yet to see this in Los Angeles or SD county, but Chicago, Arizona and I just learned parts of Santa Clara County are places who number their exits, it's stupid if you ask me, a name of the street and an exit number, do you have EMTS who can't read?. I think I just answered my question, their might be drivers who can't read but who can recognize numbers, but if you can't read you shouldn't be driving - Get off the road; thank you God for my sense of direction and giving me a great instinct to overcome the evil that lurks in this world trying to confuse us all. When I enter San Francisco it gives me great pleasure; it’s like reliving the first encounter for the first time, it’s redundant but that is the feeling, a feeling of redundancy. You get this feeling like ah… there you are, just where I left you, great to see you again, beautiful as always. The temperature is the greatest, cool, low to mid 70’s during our stay. DJ was extremely happy to learn we were going to be staying in downtown, she is fascinated by the fact that people live in apartment complexes or homes that are near the center of the city; she compares this to Los Angeles, a city where everyone runs away from come 5pm on a weekday and on the weekends, it’s a desolate place. We walked around a few streets the first night to get a feel of the place and show DJ around. We had dinner at Tad’s steak house, this place is located near Powell & Market, a small place that gets busy from time to time, but serves one of the best grilled t-bone steaks I’ve ever had with a baked potato; menu is simple but always great to go back there and have a bite. We walked back to our hotel and saw a group of people gathering around listening to some funk, all the songs they played had the same beat to it, I thought they were playing the song called “Cutie Pie”, it was fun just standing there like a tourist clappin’ my hands. I was about to start yelling “clap your hands everybody, and everybody just clap your hands, to the people out front, clapd your hands…” I thought I was Curtis Blow, then a kid approached me asking, “do you know where I can get some weed”, I was like “nope not around here I don’t”, then he said, “I got some good dubs if you want to buy some” As if my response made him believe that since he was inquiring, I to, was looking for some. I thought about it for a moment, cuz I haven’t been to San Francisco and traveled above the surface streets, but I had to pass on that great opportunity to purchase myself a good “dub”, as the vagrant called it. Saturday; Rooster wakes me up and we get ready to travel to Fisherman’s Wharf, we told DJ about a surprise and she didn’t know about it until we arrived to the Wharf, and even then she had no clue, so we had to come out and tell her, lol. We took a trolley up Powell to Fisherman’s Wharf, this was a cool and funny adventure, the driver almost took off without us and DJ was sitting on the trolley already, a good laugh. We had lunch at the Wharf and hung around until our Ferry started to board; we took a tour of the bay and snapped some pictures. We relaxed for part of the evening after our boat adventure and got ready for dinner at Sushi Rica, they had some delicious rolls, the placed was changed up a bit, but still had good food. Saturday we used public transportation to get around the city, and a cab; I can’t remember the last time I did this. Sunday was another cool weather day, this day was dedicated to visiting the bridge, DJ was excited to know we would driving out there and talking a walk on the bridge. This would also be Hvnly’s first time on the bridge, since the tragedy of September 11th the bridge has been closed to pedestrians.

The bridge is magical, it lends itself for great photography, I feel I took one of the best sets of photographs while on this trip. Monday was departure day, we ended up going back to the Wharf and had some calamari before leaving and bought some bread and chocolates for the folks back home.


This was a wonderful trip; it was great to have DJ with us and have her live and experience a city that we love. I’m glad DJ was able to see the city, learn about it and understand there are great places out there waiting for her to explore. She has sparked an interest in photography, and she’s not bad for such a young age (just move that lil’ finger DJ!), practice will make perfect and she will learn, I know she will. She’s getting a digital camera for xmas and I think I will start dj’s-viewfinder for her. I hope she becomes a traveler and one day unexpectedly I receive a picture of her in the mail, standing in front of The Sphinx or the wall of China; I’d prefer for her to roam the earth than to sit at home talking about boys and fashion. She has a bright future ahead of her and I can see the thirst for knowledge in her, I love you little girl! I hope to take you with me to more cities around the world.

Man Dies

After you guys read this post I hope I get some type of sympathy for the gamer community. I have not lost my job, I haven't died playing video games, and playing it from 12am to 4am on a rare occassion won't kill me! BTW I love playing. I'm about to get me the new Madden, so you know I'm going to be playing that shit for a long time, and the new SOCOM 3 will be coming out in October.


Man dies after 49 hours of computer games

August 10, 2005
SEOUL, South Korea --A 28-year-old South Korean man died of exhaustion in an Internet cafe after playing computer games non-stop for 49 hours, South Korean police said Wednesday.

Lee, a resident in the southern city of Taegu who was identified only by his last name, collapsed Friday after having eaten minimally and not sleeping, refusing to leave his keyboard while he played the battle simulation game Starcraft.
Lee was quickly moved to a hospital but died after a few hours, due to what doctors are presuming was a heart attack, police said.
Lee had been fired from his job last month because he kept missing work to play computer games, police said.
Computer games are enormously popular in South Korea, home to professional gamers who earn big money through sponsorships and television stations devoted to broadcasting matches.

Writing

I've always been a fan of reading and writing, when I was a student in Mexico, I was one of the best writers in my classes, something I haven’t thought about until today. I would always perform in school plays and be in some kind of dance performance. I never liked being in front of people performing, but there was something about what I was doing that made it all worth it. I was in lots of plays, mostly during Christmas, one of them was "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christian Andersen, others were stand in parts, that was lots of fun, I was in the play but I didn't have any lines. During Mothers day, schools had festivals, with several performances; I remember my favorite play, a poem by Guillermo Aguirre Fierro (Mexican) El Brindis Del Bohemio, I played a drunk going through recollections of past memories, my part was Raul's. Performing in front of people was not hard, learning my parts was. There were times when I wanted to quit and I would come up to the teacher and tell her about it, but she encouraged me. She held auditions and I showed up because I wanted to make fun of the whole situation, she said to show up have a poem memorized. When she called my name I was sort of laughing and playing, but she gave me stern stare and I got into it, used my hands to express the song and I nailed it! When I was ready to quit she reminded me that I had done very well, and that my expressions the way I had auditioned made her choose me. This helped me, and well in the end I put on a good show. One thing I do remember is that my Mother wasn't at the school play; she was here in the US, one of her several trips to make ends meet. I got sidetracked with that story but I had to write it, since I dug it from my memory bank. My fascination with books and writing has allowed me to expand my vocabulary, back then in the Espanol and now in English. Literature in general, is a great way to expand even your thinking, to understand other cultures around the world. You can always learn a word or two in another language, and you can learn to appreciate very minute things from other countries and cultures, now hopefully one day I can travel to all these places I read about. Lately I have been reading lots of books, and stopped writing, then a few months back as I started writing a poem for Hvnly about the rain, I had writers block and never continued it. I finished the poem this week and I'm listing it below. This past week I visited deep inside of me, a place I thought I had closed the door to. I thought of years past, when all wasn't well inside, when there was a lot of shit going through my head and I was going through it alone, a very personal struggle that to this day I have no idea how I got into it. I've written something about those dark times, about The Rain and my love for Hvnly, about the new bright light that is inside of me.
______________________________

The Rain
by OMD

It came over me
Unannounced dark cloud
I ran, but it didn’t help
I’m drenched

Soothing sounds fill the air
Of thunder and lightning
As if it were your touch and lips
You calm my fear

Silent, cold, desolate
I’m calm
The rain is gone
You are here

Clouds brake up
Your face I see
Sun rays shine through
The beauty is you

______________________________

Dark & Ravaged Inside
by OMD

I called HELLO! There is no echo and no answer, the air felt cold and the mood was somber. Dark, desolate, with deep caves of fear and places where the sun has not shone. Moments of happiness and laughter were in a necropolis, a pantheon of lost memories, to think of them was forbidden. Striking a match to find my place, a roaring angry draft blows it out. Creeping in the air is depression, anger, hate; this was the habitat for evil. Staying here is certain death; nothing here to nourish the soul to keep the spirit alive. Run, death is behind you! My sixth sense wakes me but I’m not lucid, I wonder if the evil in this place is real or if I’m dreaming? I have an out of body experience, macabre, I see myself laughing at myself, schizophrenia? Days have gone by and my body is decaying, putrefying, I’m slowly decomposing. Screams of horror echo in my head; I wonder if I’m hallucinating, its murder. Wrath of evil striking me down with fear, I’m no longer whole, I’ve become one with darkness, not sure if I’m comfortable with the idea, perturbed. Have I become benumbed to my surroundings? Mad from the fear, a miserable death, a slow decomposing process, decaying to a foul smell of rotten flesh. Feeling horrid the final days until the last breath, suffocation, heartbeat pounding like a loud drum, gasping convulsively. Unconscious I die with a blank stare.

______________________________

Vivid
by OMD

Warmth throughout my face, I feel like a sunflower, every direction, everywhere I go it doesn’t go away, like a shadow you can’t rid, the sun, and feeling of love. Rays of happiness and joy fill every inch of my body, gleaming through my pores, noticeable, a twinkle in my eye, can’t hide the feeling. Words can’t express it, puzzling, to feel it the only way to grasp it. Effervescence of love, heart shape bubbles rise from thee, contagious with no cure, once intoxicated you don’t need an antidote. I’ve contracted it, blinded, no longer prejudice, nor discriminatory. What is it? Can’t tell you, enter the door and don’t be afraid to let go, relaxation, bliss. Like a shroud of positive energy, I live my day feeling like I can combust any moment from the sheer joy that fills my heart. We are two, yet feel like one, symbiont, holding hands and walking the earth. I’ve been struck, I’ve lost the battle and I won’t win, I’ve let go, let nature take its course, love, it’s great, it’s inexplicable, festive with bright colors, earth, one.

I’m alive, simply alive.

Moot

Moot - Subject to debate; arguable: a moot question.

Law. Without legal significance, through having been previously decided or settled.
Of no practical importance; irrelevant. <--- How I'm using the word.

Mi Madre y Padre have left the country, they drove back to Ameca, Jalisco, Mexico. I'll try to post a map of how long (distance) the drive is, takes them about 2/3 days driving, can you imagine in a burro?



Today this post will be about nothing in particular just me blabbin' and yabbin' and yappin'. I bought some McDonalds for breakfast this morning, I ordered pancakes, it came with sausage and I ordered a side of hash and a large Coke, no fucken wonder my stomach is hurting. I don't like the pancakes at McDonalds, I rarely and I mean rarely order them, I think they have some type of polymer (synthetic, I learned that word from Rick, my compadre). I sit here and begin to think of what to write, nothing comes to mind "writers block", thank god I don't have a daily column, specially one that would be opinionated, but writing about what you think and feel like would be cool. If I had my own column I would call it… Negativity Bitch, If You Care, Fuck YOU! Wow that’s kind of harsh but when I wrote it, it felt good, like hell yea bring it biatch, “roll up” like in swingers! Maybe I’m pissed ‘cuz of the second bombings in London, can you believe this shit? It needs to stop, maybe all of the Catholic, Jews, Jehovah witness, Buddhist, etc. etc. etc. (that’s from “The King and I” the "etc. etc. etc." part, lol) maybe all of the aforementioned should pray to Allah just for a minute and say please make them stop. Maybe he will respond and say, WHY? You have waged war on my people/religion for centuries, and I have said or done nothing in return. You have let the world attack me and have not come to your brother’s rescue. This can be true you know, but I guess we will never find out; I doubt John Lennon’s lyrics will ever come true…

Imagine there's no countries,
It isnt hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

Wars have given humanity a plethora of changes that have made life simple, and enjoyable; I guess you can bitch and complain and then say thanks to Motorola for developing a cell phone, thanks to the Cold War and the race to the moon for creating tang. I’m going to end this because I got a call and these people had no fucken idea I was blogging and they broke my train of thought, how dare they, do they not work? I sure as hell do!

Ciabatta... C - I - A - B - A - T - T - A - Ciabbata, smooch (throwing up the peace sign) peace out!

Woman Defies Driving Ban

A while back I had written about how I learned about a ban on women drivers in Saudi Arabia. Today I found out that a woman defied the ban and decided to drive, this was after her husband fell ill at the wheel. She drove 10 miles to the nearest gas station where her husband was treated, looks like her act and defiance saved his life. The article mentioned that in rural places (to farm etc.) some women do learn to drive, but don't drive all the time. Perhaps the Saudis can learn from this incident and understand that like with all negative things; (Saudia Arabia deems it offensive and negative - I can't judge nor say they are wrong for doing this), theres is always something postive that will come out of it; Jaime Escalante said it best in "Stand & Deliver" a negative plus a negative is a postive.

Small World

It's bloody Monday and I feel like I need a vacation, but I should not fret, my scheduled holiday will be arriving by the end of the month.

Friday night I cruised by my sisters house and picked up my niece Jenny, she spent the weekend with DJ, and they both had lots of fun together. Friday was SOCOM night, we got worked in 1 out of 6 clan wars (lost two maps 6-2 & 6-1), not to shabby. Piles and I (Doc Holiday) have been kicking some major ass in this game, when we war. We are super elite snipers without a spotter (one who finds the target), we preffer to use single shot sniper rifles like the M87ELR or the M82A1A, and if a close fire fight breaks out all we do is bring out old reliable, DE .50 caliber. The Desert Eagle will tare your limb off in real life, that gun is no joke. I hope no one gets to be a human target and someone's shooting at them with the DE .50, if this will be the case my suggestion is to run Forrest run! Saturday was pretty smooth throughout the day, we took the kids to the theater; Fantastic Four it's what we paid to watch, but wait 'till it comes out on bootleg or netflix. Late that night I hooked up with my cuz Johnny Cash, we were going to play poker at a house where according to him, "good players" showed up. Called the house up and nobody was there only the house owner, guess they knew Doc Holiday was going out, and they knew about my famous OK Corral shootout and decided not to show. I wanted to play some poker so we drove down to the Hawaiian Gardens Casino. Played $20 no limit from around 10:30 pm up until 3:45 am; that was the longest time I've played poker. The first two hours I got worked, lost $40; when I had a good hand I just was not hitting the cards on the boards, the rest of the time I was getting low cards and had to fold. After I lost those $40 I decided to take a quick break, so I ran out to my car and smoked a cigar, can't member the name but I'll post a picture of it later. After the smoke I sat down and started winning, I started with $20 and was up close to $100 when it was all said and done, I cashed $20 and never recovered the previous $40 I had lost hours earlier. Got home so late the sun came out just minutes before I fell asleep ;) It was fun on Saturday night/Sunday morning. Sunday was Hvnly's debut as a Beer Nuts player, one error and one base hit (I think she went 1 for 3), she reedemed herself with that hit. We were about to leave the parking lot when Alicia asked if I thought this guy looked like Joseph; Joseph or Jobo is a TextAmerica member and has become an online friend, we are getting in our car when he approaches us and says, Max? I was like yea, Alicia then says yea hi, I told you it looked like Joseph! We said hi took a few pictures and said adios. It's a small world when you meet someone who you've seen pictures of online, it was cool meeting him. Came home after the game, ate subway, took a nap and watched Kingdom Of Heaven. The movie was ok, they had one of the best lines I've heard in a while, can't quote it verbatum but I'll try "You have great qualities, your enemy will know about you before you even meet him"

Time to say goodbye for now, as I wave goodby I am entering a tunnel (can you guess where in the world is Carmen San Diego?), and I can hear little kids singing, "It's a small world after all..."

The Times

I need to get me the voice recognition program so it can do the typing for me. I have some shitt to say, that it would be so much easier for me to just yap into the microphone, than to type.



First thing I'd like to say is that my heart goes out to all the families and loved ones in London who suffered from those terrorist attacks. I mentioned to Hvnly how I wish we can just go to a place we know these people are located, just grab them and question them, torture them and even inflict wounds if we have to, to avoid these kinds of tragedies. Yes with these comments I am stepping on someone else rights, assuming they were captured in the USA, right to privacy, right to an attorney, and in the rest of the world, the right to be a human being and be treated like one. FOIA - Freedom Of Information Act is one touchy subject, I mentioned this to Hvnly, how I wish we use it in our favor, but this can be a powerful weapon for the government to do as they please with your personal life, belongings, information, anything they feel is valuable to the investigation they can take from you, without a signed warrant from a judge. Did you know? In China, if a police officer deems necessary to search your car/house/personal belongings and you don't give him consent, he can write himself a warrant on the spot! This would be a violation of the 4th ammendment, the right to privacy(see below). This is a process they can overlook here in the US using the FOIA, if somone feels that my piece of dirty underwear will help the investigation in any way, they can take it, this is fucking CRAZY! FOIA has been used to save hundreds of lives, and to avoid tragedies like those in London. My take is the following, use it as long as it doesn't affect me, but don't do it to me. Yes this is so convenient for me to put it this way, but what else can you do? It's like a double edged sword, catch 22, entre la espada y la pared. I've always said to Hvnly, ignorance is bliss; yes nothing that I have talked about today has affected me in any way (except for not having the voice recognition program), but the fact that one day your rights can be taken away, and we see this happening already, is scary.

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Armstrong

Such a shame that as I blog this I feel I should just get up and slap myself in the face, and if I could, I would kick myself in the ass. Armstrong one day said back in the late 1990's - "I have testicular cancer and it has spread to my stomache, but I'm going to fight this, I'm going to beat this"- He's now trying to win the Tour De France for the 7th straight time, I'm cheering for this guy hope he kicks some serious ass. I write about this because Armstrong was pretty much done in terms of his love for the sport and no one thought his return possible, but his will to win and beat cancer has made him one of the greatest sports athletes of any era. I hope that what I write inspires me to do the same in my life.

My Book

Sharing two excerts from the book I'm reading, I thought one was worded perfect and the other was funny; Thanks Hvnly I'm enjoying the read!

~ Her hand was still resting in the curve of my arm, near the elbow. The touch was exactly what the touch of a lover's hand should be: familiar, yet exciting as a whispered promise. I felt an almost irresistible urge to take her hand and place it flat against my chest near my heart. Maybe I should've done it. ~

~ 'What are you on about now, Didier,you bastard?' she asked companioably, her south London accent giving the first syllable of the last word an explosive ring. 'He was just telling me that the French are the most civilised people in the world'. 'As all the world knows'. he added. 'When you produce a Shakespeare, out of your villes and vineyards, mate, I might just agree with you,' Letty murmured though that seemed to be warm and condescending in equal parts.
'My dear, please do not think I disrespect your Shakespeare,' Didier countered, laughing happily. 'I love the english language, becaues so much of it is French.'
'Touche,' I grinned 'as we say in English.' ~

Hector Garcia & Other News

Today I started thinking about photography, how I haven’t heard of a famous or notable Mexican photographer, someone who would be known around the world. I did what any normal kid on the block would do after a thought; I hopped on a boat and navigated the internet waves. During the search I came across the name of Hector Garcia, I read a quick article on the guy and after doing more searches on the name I learned the following. In the early years of Hector Garcia, he was a vagabond like so many kids in Mexico City; later in his life he came back to the streets, the city that watched him grow, and captured it. He became a news agency photographer and now almost 80 years later his work is on display at Photo Espana 2005. Photo Espana is considered the Cannes for renowned world photographers (something I didn’t know), I guess I should add this to my “Places To Visit In My Lifetime” list.

Germany Seeks UN Council Seat

The first world union was called “The League Of Nations”, created after WWI after the defeat of Germany by Brittain, France, Italy and the US; I don’t remember the year. Today in 2005, Germany is seeking a permanent seat in the exclusive group of veto-wielding UN council. If my history serves me correct, the United Nations was created in 1945 in order to avoid another world conflict and later tackled other world problems. At the time of its inception the allied forces, (USA, Russia, France, etc.) formed the UN and only allowed the countries they defeated (Germany, Japan, Italy) to be part of the UN, but not have a permanent seat. Till this day none of the defeated countries from WWII are part of the council, so many years the war they've still been negated. I feel the world has moved on and has forgotten about those days (with the exception of war celebrations, veterans, etc.), but to quote Karla from the book I’m reading, Shantaram; “The business of big politics is the politics of big business”. We’ll see what happens in the coming months, both Japan and Germany are lobbying to be appointed.

The Getty

Traveled west with the Royal Madrigals and Hvnly, drove on the 210 fwy and south on the parking lot that is the 405 fwy. Paid $8 and took the drive down several feet below sea level to the parking structure, parked the Lizzie and we were on our way. While at The Getty we looked at artwork from several periods throughout history, primarily before the 1700's. Mother was enjoying the various paitings depicting religious stories; I would translate the information on the painting and at times before I said a word to her, she remembered the scripture from the bible and would tell it to me. I caught up to Hvnly and said to her - "hey maybe I should work here and do a tour in Spanish" - Maybe I should look into this. Don Ignacio was getting tired from walking around. My dad has bad knees, the knee joints rub on each other, he doesn't have any fluid or cartilage. Dad took breaks and would sit in the galleries sofas or chairs when he felt tired. We entered a different gallery, and we didn't know it but I asked, are these Rembrandt's? We checked on the information cards and saw that in fact we were looking at Amsterdams pride and joy. I was never aware that his paintings were depicting apostles or martyrs, and of his most famous paintings (shown below) is a self portrait as the apostle Paul. We took a break from the the galleries and went to the courtyard and had cups of java. We saw a few photographs of Frederick Sommer, dad was feeling tired from all the walking so we went down to the gardens. I need to plan on going back before Fredericks exhibition is over. A quote on the wall - "Poetry is the quality of our acts and art is the evidence that survives" - F Sommer. At the gardens we all admired the plants, the small waterfall etc. Hvnly took some sun rays while we chatted in the gardens. Mom was talkin about the family, house designs, my brothers and all sorts of stuff. After the Getty we enjoyed some delicious Won Kok Chinese food, we ordered our usual Hu Ta Shia, Tri Pa, mongolian chicken and one extra dish since my parents were with us, mushroom chicken. That sums up the Getty adventure, hope to post some more adventures in the near future once The Getty Villa opens.

DJ's Birthday

Saturday June 23rd was DJ's Birthday celebration where all her lil and not so little friends came to visit and swam like fishes. She's had so many birthday "releated" events and or gifts this year that I lost count. Like the drive down PCH, that was Hvnly's gift and idea, a drive down the ocean on a convertible ride. Tuesday June 14th was her birthday, we took her bowling and hung out with the family. Hvnly beat our ass!, but only because she had a previous relationship where she had a boring boyfriend who would only take her bowling, no clubs to get the courvoisier and get all crunked up in the club! lol ;) Auntie Vero and Shawn took DJ to Universal Studios as part of her girft; Shawn landed a small record contract with his band, he paid for everyone and bought everyone what they wanted, DJ got an annual pass. She's a very spoiled girl! I've been told and heard that many times, but everyone in this world gets things that we aren't worthy of and do not deserve. She's a great little girl and the only problems she's caused are things that every day parents go through. With that said, until the day I die I will make sure she receives and at the same time earns all that she wants, and if she wants another cavity because she likes how the black dots look on her pearly whites, I will make sure she gets another candy. This goes for all of my kids, the future rug rats that god will send me. Lil Hvnly Max's running around, what a thought but that's for a different post.


DJ:
I will love you always and you will always be Dad's lil girl, you will be 100 years old and I will always be there to remind you, that even though you are married and have kids, you were that girl who always wanted to go swimming and be a disney princess for Halloween.

No Speako Spanol

El escribir en Espanol a veces se me complica ya que ciertas palabras no las recuerdo y tengo que buscar si lo escribi correctamente. Hay palabras que se me han olvidado, que cuando las escucho recuerdo su significado. Mi seleccion de palabras a disminuido y lo noto cuando hablo con mi madre. Tengo dos libros que me regalaron el dia del papa, uno se llama Shantaram, estan planeando hacer una pelicula. El otro libro se llama Embeded, se trata de un periodista que se adjunta con los soldados, durante la guerra en Irak. Tuve la oportunidad de leer pocas paginas de ambos libros y se que me van a gustar mucho. El libro de Shantaram tiene mas de 900 paginas, espero terminarlo pronto, pero para esto tengo que darme mas tiempo para leer. Despues de leer esto dos libros voy a comprarme algo de literatura Espanola, o tal vez de mi compatriota Octavio Paz, para recordarme de mis tiempos en La Escuela Secundaria Patria. Me gusta la mitologia griega, pero me gustaria leerla en ingles. Bueno creo que lo poco que acabo de escribir fue un buen ejercicio para no olvidarme de lo poco que me queda almacenado.

No Pictures, Just A Map

No pictures of my weekend adventures, only anecdotes today.

an·ec·dote ( P )
A short account of an interesting or humorous incident.

Friday night I returned to my rightful seat at the poker table. I played to win and in the end I took 2nd place; I was dissapointed becuase in retrospect I didn't make good calls, I took it as a game and not as earning money. I can't complain I won $120, but $200+ would've been better.

Saturday we took a convertible ride up PCH. It was DJ's bday June 14th and Hvnly decided to surprise her with a convertible ride. (note: this is my first entry and acknowledgemet of DJ in my blog). Started in West Covina and after a cruise down the 605 we ended up by Snoop Dogs town of the LBC. Stopped by Papaluccis an ordered some shrimp platters, garlic rolls a must and some beverages. Enjoyed the meal and went over the Vincent Thomas bridge and stopped by the Korean American Friendship bell in San Pedro. I didn't know that quineceaneras and wedding parties went there to take pictures. Hvnly saw me take a picture of a wedding party and mentioned that she can see me writing in my blog about this. It was a pretty big family with like eight couples dressed up as part of the wedding. One thing I have to say is that I am not going to have 8 couples introduced before me when I get married. I hate weddings and I won't put any of my friends through that shit. I just want you to show up and have a good time, and if you were taking a piss when we were being introduced who cares, you already know us if not why on earth are you at my wedding? OK enough about that and lets continue with my Saturday adventure. One of my favorite parts of the drive was the Portuguese bend, by Palos Verdes. The bend had nice curves along the road and great views of the Pacific Ocean. I was enjoying the ride, perhaps more so than DJ & Hvnly, that when we approached Redondo Beach I was dissapointed because I saw city traffic, huge SUVs and civilization. As I write this I feel like I should become Harrison Ford's character, Allie Fox, from the movie The Mosquito Coast. In the movie Allie Fox becomes disilussioned with the US and decides to leave and go to Central America and live there with his family. His motivations were political, different reasons than the ones I'm feeling now; however, there are times where I wish I can live in an island. I ponder, once I'm there if I would miss my TV and technology, or I can have my cake and eat it to. Live in an island and have technology, shit it's my wish. Got a bit sidetracked there but had to paint you a picture of how I felt, I guess you only understand what I was trying to convey if you saw the movie. Moving on; We reached our final destination from our trip, stopped the engine and put in in park, we were at the Santa Monice Pier, one of DJ's favorite hang outs. Hvnly bought us some ice cream comes, it was like icing on the cake. After the ice cream we played some video games, took some pictures in a booth, and walked around the peer. We drove home and stopped by to grab some food. I enjoyed there company very much and it was a fine ride, only bad thing is that my face was all red and burnt.

Line in red denotes the drive I took Saturday.


Sunday was Fathers Day, like Felipe sent me in a text "I like it when you call me big poppa" lol. Our family got together so we could celebrate dads day, I was telling Hvnly how throughout my 28 years of existence I've never seen my dad blow a candle. It's sad that we've always called my mother on Mothers day, celebrated her birthday when we could, but nothing for dad. I know we all have faults in our life and being an alcoholic was one of his, but he's changed and has not been one for more than 15 years. I know that my brothers have pushed my father aside, perhaps subconsciously, and it was becuase there was lack of involvement on his part. Not being involved is a cycle, if you don't break it you will pass that on to your offspring and they will do it to their kids unless somone stops it. There is a happy story coming up, in the end, we were all there together at last, no one was missing except my brothers two daugthers and there kids. My brothers and sisters were all there, kids were swimming in the pool and the grill was charing and cooking some chicken and meat. My dad cut the cake and we took pictures, he was happy and being silly like always, giving everyone a tiny slice of cake. In the end I'm glad to say that at least once, we celebrated something in his honor. I have a few moments with my father that are dear to me, and as I write this I begin to think of them all. When I was just a young boy, I was probaly three years old, he would grab one of the stuffed animals and talk to me, and say "Omarito que estas haciendo". I can remember him laying on the bed as I was probably giggling and laughing becuase a stuffed animal was talking to me. He took me to my first soccer game when I was 12 years old, I had been playing organized soccer since a young age, but he never took me to a game or kicked the ball around with me. The first time we shared a beer, we drove all the way from Ameca to Los Angeles, just the two of us. There was a truck that was driving next to us for most of the drive from Sinaloa to Nogales, the man driving the other truck made a gesture to slow down so he can give us some beers. He threw over three Estrella beers (it's the same taste as corona or sol), and my dad said here take one and drink it, I remember thinking to myself he's offering me a beer and I'm only 13. This will quench your thirst, he said to me, I remember taking a sip, it was bitter but it felt so good going down my throat. That was the first time I had an alcoholic beverage, guess I like the way Coronas taste ever since then, THANKS DAD!

Well I guess that sums up my weekend and thoughts, Friday night I didn't win the big pot playing poker. Saturday I had one of the best drives in my life that I got to share with Hvnly and DJ, it rivals a San Francisco drive. Sunday I hung out with my big Mexican familia, we had some cerveza, carne y pollo en las brasas, and we celebrated Fathers day. Yes I didn't win first place, but I have great momories that will stay with me because of this weekend, these are worth more than what I would have won playing poker.

New Membership

I joined the gym.
I need to get buff and then get my fade haircut and I'm set, back in the club scene.

In The News / Batman

Batman Begins


This time it's going old school. No more comic book hero with nipples on the batsuit and the colorful characters from the comic books, and who can forget Arnold Schwarzenneger? Christopher Nolan is the director, he has three other movies, Memento, The Following, and Insomnia; I haven't seen insomnia and the other two movies I really liked; so I can say that as a director he has my approval and go see the other two movies if you haven't checked those out. I'm happy that they are going back to Bruce Wayne the dark loner. Batman, Batman Returns are my favorites from the saga, they were dark and no bright colors. Batman Forever I'll let it slide since I liked Val Kilmer as Batman, but I don't know about Alicia Silverstone. I wish the the batcage were my room, dark and full of things to do, I would never leave the house. I can see myself being Batman, I love the nigh and there's always something happening in Gotham city; great weather, never sunshine and always gray skies. Oh! and one more thing Catwoman.


James Joyce author of "Ulysses".


Every year the clock in the Irish capital goes back to June 16, 1904, so famously depicted in the epic day-in-a-life novel "Ulysses", written by the city's most celebrated author. In the 700-page book, Joyce wrote about the adventures of Leopold Bloom, a Jewish advertising salesman, and young poet Stephen Dedalus as they wander the streets of Dublin. I'll make this book my next read, I have some good books coming to me that the book fairy told me about. I hope to make it to Ireland one day and come back to the states and say "I had a warm beer with some fish and chips". I know it might seem like there's not much to do, but you have the Celtic castles, William Wallace, Beer Pubs, the great gloomy over cast weather, oh and did I mention the beer pubs? Maybe I can go out there on a future June 16th and see everyone come and celebrate the author with the costumes from that era.

Protest

Cyclists in Madrid Spain took the streets today to bring attention the the issue of not having enough cycling lanes, and the increase in accidents and deaths, due to aggresive drivers. They hoped on there bike but they did it naked, yes naked! That's awesome, not because of all the pansas that you will see hanging around as bikers go by, but becuase it's a peaceful way to protest and to let everyone know that we have a problem and we need to address it. Good for them, just look at the little fellow who's enjoying the bike ride behind his dads (I'm assuming) bear ass.

Great Weekend

I hooked up with Hvnly and passed on the poker, I hadn't seen her in about two weeks; that would have hurt my feelings if she had chosen to do something else other than see me, see where I'm going with this? We didn't do much but watch TV and be lazy, that was all for Friday. Saturday night we were going to go to the movies, but Hvnly had family in town from AZ and they wanted to go have a drink. We went to the LBC, to the yard house and to the brewery. Sunday was one of the laziest days I've spent with Hvnly, most of the day in bed and watched all the shows I've DVR'd (Jeopardy, Medium, New season of Entourage). We took a drive in the evening and dropped off a movie in Pomona, and on the way home we stopped by to get some zuccini with ranch. It was a weekend full of nothing, simple times, for simple people.

This is my dad on the left, with my grandmother, uncle Ramon, and aunt Graciela.

My parents are in town, they came from Ameca, Jalisco, Mexico. They stay about three weeks, do a bunch of house chores, cook, clean, and anything I say not to do they do! Those are parents, I'm grateful to have them and greateful they do all the things they do for me.

Sharing Pictures

Today has been a surprisingly slow day (06/08) at work, so it gives me time to do a rare posting. I start a post on a word document, I write my thoughts throughout the day, then paste it and create a blog entry. At times it takes me three days to write or finish all my thoughts, unless I’m at home. When I started this posting yesterday it was slow, and it’s now day two (06/09), of me working on the post. I just wanted to post some pictures that I found online, but a quick post has now turned into day three (06/10), me trying to type these simple words has taken me a long time. I moved seats, I no longer will have "mitote access" to Felipe, but that’s what the OGO will be for; I assisted the Help Desk all day yesterday, taking away precious time from posting. I ponder…(very pensive, and strocking the few hairs I have on my chin) should I become a blogger and quit work?

Here are the pictures I wanted to share.

The moon looked like this on my birthday


It’s in my top ten favorite movie list.


Alfonso was my boy on The Contender, hope to see him fighting soon.


People from Cuba tried coming to the US in a 49 Mercury, they didn’t make it “wet foot”


Damm she got a nice one!

Dropping The F Bomb

Pretty soon this will be me.


Today I got paid and I all of my fucken money will be fucken gone. Getting paid and not seeing any of the fucken money is fucken incredible, how can this be fucken happening to me! Oh well I guess that's the way fucken life is. I'll fucken see a check in two weeks, hopefully that fucken check is more money.

FUCK!

Johannesburg

From AK47.TV, Great pictures from Guy Tillim taken in Johannesburg.


View More Pictures Here

Read more on Johannesburg.

White residents fled Johannesburg’s inner city in the 1990s. The removal of the Group Areas Act foreshadowed a flow into the city of black residents and small businesses seeking opportunities and better lives. Former denizens looked back in self-righteous justification at a city that was given over to plunder and mayhem. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy, and eyewitness reports and statistics obliged. Everyone had their horror stories.
Emerging from this period of change were the towers occupied by tenants who were holding onto tenure and managing the buildings in ways of their own devising. Their story had gone something like this: in the 1990s the owners absconded, leaving managing agents to retrieve what rents they could. In most cases, these agents were corrupt, did not pay the utilities, and disappeared with the money. They were tidy sums, paid in rents by poor people who conscientiously paid up to avoid having to go back to where they came from.
The decay of Joburg’s centre can be ascribed to many factors but perhaps none more so than the absence of communal responsibility for apartment blocks. Body Corporates had become a relic of a more genteel era; the communal responsibilities that are contentious in even the most well-heeled blocks were not marked out. Windows were broken and not repaired. Lifts froze and their shafts became tips.
It was then the buildings started looking like fire hazards to city fathers and developers with an eye on the rents that can be obtained in the bloom of an African City, and the City started closing on buildings for unpaid dues. The tenants have constituted committees to face these threats, and have with meager resources attempted to clean up the buildings. But they have delayed the inevitable. Because their committees have no basis in law, they are vulnerable to investment capital and legal maneuvers that have invoked statutes and non-compliances that carry the penalty of eviction.
Inbetween the aspirations of city council and the need of developers lies the fate of Joburg residents, the outcome of which will define Joburg as again a city of exclusion, or not.

No Women Drivers

Driving for women in Saudi Arabia is prohibited.

This is one thing I learned today, I had no idea that such a ban existed in the world today. I knew women couldn’t leave there home without being accompanied by their husband or another male relative, but not being able to drive is crazy. Only Saudi Arabia has such a ban in the world today. I know I’m being ethnocentric, but the thought itself so mind boggling. I read an article today about a proposal in Saudi Arabia; it was only a proposal for talks to allow women to drive; talks alone have become such an issue, its taboo. Mohammad al-Zulfa brought forth the idea and has been receiving phone calls and text messages saying he is driven by “carnal instincts”. I feel that only something positive can come out of this if they allow women to drive, but again I don’t live nor think like a Saudi. I’m sure the proposal wont change but it will be interesting to follow the story.

Sick Sucks

I had the weirdest illness before the weekend, it started Wednesday night. I started to get cold and my body began to ache, all of my joints started hurting very bad. I tried falling asleep and it just wasn't working, I did this for about an hour and a half. Body still ached and the shacking wouldn't go away. Thursday morning I wake up with only a headache and I think to myself OK it's gone, I drive to work and the whole thing starts again. I go to save-on and get something to make me feel better and it's starts to make me drowsy. I show up to work and I tell the boss that I can't be on the phones today because I'm sick, in the end I go home and sleep/rest for two days. The weirdest thing about this is that I had no other symptoms like a runny nose, but now that I remember I did have a fever. Well it's over and I'm glad it's done. I couldn't do shitt for two days which sucked, but oh well that's life.

The Weekend

Friday I flew solo for the evening, went down to Hollywood to visit Lupita and got my hair chopped. Hvnly and DJ were visiting Dodger Stadium, Dodgers lost 9-0, I heard it was disappointing but they had lots of fun. Saturday morning we ran around town getting tables and chairs, beer and distilled spirits, all in preparation for Hvnly’s Weenie Roast. It was good times, friends and loved ones arrived “fashionably late” and we had Frank-E spinning some tunes. There is always good food served at our joints, we had burgers, hotlinks, chorizo; food was so good we need to do this again., probably this upcoming holiday. Sunday Hvnly and I chilled most of the day and in the evening we were heading to Westside. That night we had tickets to see Sweet And Tender Hooligans, they put on a great show, the line-up had everything from the most recent Morrissey album to The Smith tracks. I am definitely seeing this band again they played everything you will never hear Morrissey play. After the show we drove down to Melrose and Highland, that special place called pinks, we took it easy and just ordered chili-cheese-fries.

Miss World

This picture was on yahoo last week, and the caption was "Miss World, poses for the camera at the Canne Film Festival" All I can see is her tits, I can't see her face at all, is this the reason she won the "Miss World" pageant?

Wednesday

Compadre que onda, what’s up with tonight? Hey compa ya mero llegas, I’m ready? That was Rick on the phone, after two phone calls to my cell I knew he was like a “novia de rancho, vestida y alborotada”. I’ll come back to my Star Wars EP3 story in a moment. I went to Pasadena early Wednesday and stopped by the CalTech credit union and after a withdrawal there I had drove down the street to Wescom for a deposit. I woke up a bit late and I hadn’t had breakfast it was now 12:45 pm and I needed to grab a bite. I was driving down Colorado Blvd when I saw Hooters flashing me to go inside, yes Hooters the restaurant, not a pair. Parked The Lizzie and I walked up to Hooters, ordered me a black and tan, it was like my glass of milk early in my day, and my pancakes were ten pieces of fried chicken. Watched the Dodger game (lost 8-3) and flied down to LAX to pick up the Queen Alicia; which I was excited to see since I wasn’t around her for 3 ½ days. Talked about her Nana and how the flight, funeral, and bus trip went going down to Messico. I wanted to make her feel better so I took her to our favorite sushi place, Sushi Samurai. Fast forward to Rick my compa, calling me on the cell phone to hurry so we can drive down and watch the premiere of Star Wars EP3, Revenge of the Sith. It’s a great experience to go and see the movie with all the Star Wars geeks, because everyone appreciates the movie; we’ve all grown to love SW and you can see everyone’s excitement once we were let in the theater. I give the movie two thumbs up and five light sabres. Hope you all can make your way and see the movie, even if you are not a fan.

Thought Of You All Day

I got the phone call this morning and I was sad to hear you crying and to know you were in pain. I'm starting to write this late Sunday night and I'm starting to cry a bit, I guess now that I start to put words together it has finally hit me. This whole day I’ve thought about you, how strong you are and how I wish I can be with you to help you go through this; to be by your side, hold your hand and give you hugs and say something to your ear to comfort you. I can’t think of the last time I felt sadness and this void, sadness from your loss and void because you are not here next to me, I shouldn’t feel this way but it tears me apart to know what you are going through, it’s not a good feeling. I started to think of what you told me your gramma use to say, “es mi novio!”, “le voy a decir a Omar que te portas mal conmigo!” As I write this my face begins to smile, she was very cute and I told Desiree that your gramma was ill, I didn’t tell her of her death; her response was “Oh yea I remember her, she gave me my earings.” I watched The Contender and I just thought about you jumping up and down, going crazy yelling GO PETAH! I can’t tell you who won, so I’ll wait for you to watch it so we can talk about it. I MISS YOU and I hope to see your face soon so I can hold you in my arms for a long time until you want to let go.

NPR

Listening to NPR is so “cool” for lack of “me” using a better word, lol, that it keeps me informed on world issues. I can’t think of the last time I watched the local news, is it wrong that I don’t care?…“Murder today, a rape on the streets of Los Angeles, a car chase ends in tragedy, all tonight at 5pm.” I think this is the reason why I don’t tune to watch the local news, I much rather hear about a car bombing in Iraq, or hear that there were protest in Uzbekistan and protesters were killed by police. Isn’t it ironic? It’s not that I don’t care what happens in Los Angeles, but maybe subconsciously I just want to believe that these things aren’t happening around me, after all it’s not a great story to hear. I much rather hear that today the art world has found 32 unknown paintings by the late Jackson Pollock, stored in a Long Island storage, than hear there’s been shootings on freeways. You may say I’m a dreamer, to quote John Lennon, but that might be what keeps me going, and it might not be what works for you. I always imagine how great my life would be if I were ignorant and didn’t know what current events my immediate world was going through; Ignorance is truly bliss, the less you know the less you worry about.

DM

Driving Home on Sunday afternoon I found myself listening to “Fashion Telegram” commonly known as Depeche Mode, there best album IMHO, Violator. This is an album that is 15 years old, it came out in 1990; I was only 13 years old when I noticed the greatness of the album. Track two is somewhat slow compared to the rest of the 9 songs, but it still manages to wake up the soul in my body. I can close my eyes and think of "Popi's" little me listening to this tape in Ameca, I brought it back after my brother Martin had recorded it for me. I had a walkman and it was probably my only tape that never stopped playing, unless the battery died of course. I had the pleasure of meeting David Gahan when they were on Holiday in Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara is the same place where they recorded there album called Exciter.; They are currenly there recording there new album, tentatively scheduled for an autumn release.


Here are the lyrics for track two, the Sweetest Perfection.

The sweetest perfection
To call my own
The slightest correction
Couldn't finely hone
The sweetest infectionOf body and mind
Sweetest injection
Of any kind

I stop and I stare too much
Afraid that I care too much
And I hardly dare to touch
For fear that the spell may be broken

When I need a drug in me
And it brings out the thug in me
Feel something tugging me
Then I want the real thing not tokens

The sweetest perfection...
Things you'd expect to be
Having effect on me
Pass undetectedly
But everyone knows what has got me

Takes me completely
Touches so sweetly
Reaches so deeply
I know that nothing can stop me

Sweetest perfection
An offer was made
An assorted collection
But I wouldn't trade

The sweetest perfection...

Takes me completely
Touches so sweetly
Reaches so deeply
Nothing can stop me

Why Angelina Broke My Heart

I first saw you on this cheesy movie called Firefox, I ran into you again when I saw you in Hackers. Those always noticeable and sexy famous lips, the characters full of rebellion and aggression. Gia blew me away and I didn’t know it then, but everyone started talking about your history, your similarity to Gia’s character; the broken home and the early marriage to Jonny Lee Miller, there was pain there. I found myself plastering your image all over my desk, knowing little things about your life, and now I’m distant. You married Billy Bob Thornton, how can I ever forget that. Billy and Angelina, you were all over town, kissing and hugging each other making headlines constantly. Why did you tattoo his name on your arm? You were Good Will Ambassador for the UN and were involved with various charities, I applaud you for that. I saw you and little Maddox on this months issue of Vanity Fair, that little boy is a cutie. I hope you regain popularity with me, I know it’s not your fault, but the choice of movies and you being all over the print media and TV is not favoring you.

Zombie

I was driving to work and I heard Howard Stern play a song from The Cranberries, Zombie. It took me back to High School a time when I didn’t care much for anything with a guitar sound, STP being the exception of course. I just thought I’d jot down part of the lyrics and tell you about a blog that I read every once in a while, this song reminded me of it. I read a soldiers blog A Day In Iraq, it brings insight to what soldiers are going through in Iraq. I look forward to reading his posts because it connects me to this person in some weird way, whenever he updates his blog it lets us, the readers, know that he is alive and well, which is a great thing. I support the war on terror, but with Iraq, it's a grave situation and I just hope we get out of there soon. I will never be sold on the fact that soldiers fighting on foreign soil are “protecting my freedom”. Tracking these individuals and not letting them into our country to avoid another disaster is ok, I'm all for it. Yes, counterterrorism and special operations throughout the world that help determine the whereabouts and leads to a capture of a head of terrorist cells is understandable; but when we go and invade a country like Iraq and we determine that there no WMD’s, I can’t stand and cheer in support.


The Cranberries
~Zombie~

But you see it's not me,
it's not my family
In your head, in your
head they are fighting
With their tanks and their bombs
And their bombs and their guns
In your head in your head,
in your head they are cryin'
In your head
Zombie
What's in your head, in your head
Zombie

The Date

Friday night I had a hot date with my Heavenly Love Alicia, we were to have dinner and a movie. Every once in a while we have a date and enjoy each others company. We don’t have dull moments in our relationship but these dates are about spending time with each other, sit across from another and make it a point to have a good conversation. Holding hands throughout the night, a hug, a kiss, these are reminders that our love is strong and having dates will keep our romance stay alive and fresh. We drove to Yang Chow’s in Pasadena to treat our palates with some delicious slippery shrimp and Szechwan beef. During dinner we conversed, shared thoughts and talked about several things. We were going to the movies with the intentions of watching "The Ballad Of Jack & Rose", but had to settle for the The Interpreter, which was a sideway thumb for me. After the movie I dropped off the Queen and ventured on home.

Sushi

Had some sushi for lunch today, I was over by the shopping center near the old building where I worked before. I had gone to purchase some stamps at the liquor store but they had none, and I saw the sign for California Sushi Roll, now I've had there stuff before but haven't been impressed. I decided to go in there once more and just order something I haven't had from them. I ordered the Hungry Roll, which is a Spicy Tuna Tempura roll and man was it big, so big it had to be cut in half, it's good for two people to share it and get full. I had an unagi avocado roll but it was lame, soda and miso soup, meal was under $20. The hungry roll will definitely be on my mind next time I go there, I'm giving them a chance. I can't help but think that $20 is hell of a lot of money for lunch, but if you were to talk to Rachel Ray she'd be hella happy since I'm only at half of my $40 p/day budget, lol. I do want to mention Sushi Samurai because they kick ass and it's my personal favorite, Jim will hook it up and he always makes sure I get the best Toro, and if you like sushi and never ever had Toro, it's worth the market price.

I need to get me one of these for xmas one day.

Coffeee & Smiths

I write to you today as the fragrance of espresso roast fills the air and The Smiths hit the airwaves. I’ll let you think of it for a moment, for it’s a great smell and sound; A great smell and sound indeed, especially when it surrounds your desk area with a great scent, what can you say about the sound? It’s The Smiths there awesome!. I drove to work listening to The Smiths (I never get tired of listening to there “Best Of” CD), got to work and set up my new coffee maker, brewed a cup and listened to The Smiths.

Two Minutes

I have two minutes to spare so I'll write something real quick. I won $10 through an incentive at work, and I got paid all in $1's. This might be an opportunity for me to go and support the single mothers union, the naked womens shelter; you guys know what I'm talking about. HOLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

My Week

I failed to come by and update my page for a week now, feels weird since it’s been an outlet for my thoughts. It’s hard to go back and think of the random thoughts that I scribble down throughout the day to write down on my memoir. Due to the fact that I was in training most of the week and didn't find myself in front of a computer, I didn’t do much thinking for thoughts for my blog, but here is how I can sum up my week…

“Better than most, not as good as some”.

Miss You

One week since I’ve seen you
One week since I’ve kissed you
One week since we’ve touched
One week… I’ve had enough!

I want you, I can’t see you
I cry your name but no reply
Just want you near me
Here by my side

The perfume from your body
The laughter and cheer
That’s what I miss much
That’s what I miss dear

We Beat Them Again

The blue came back, scoring 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th.
Here is the scoreboard. YOU STILL SUCK BARRY!

The Radio

Heard a call on the radio station the other day, A guy was telling a girl, "All men are the same, we just want to be with hotter women, and we are always going to want someone who looks better and younger than you are, because we want to hit that" the girl of course objected, "my husband is not like that!", the guy said "sure he is, he just doesn't tell you!" I changed the station and I start listening to music, I hear Rich talk to me and ask me some stuff, and I respond with "yea", I'm completely tuning him out and I'm trying to understand if I fit the description of what the caller was describing. I’m driving home and I’m thinking to myself, have I ever thought like this? Do girls think like this? Do you fantasize? I’m sure we all admire beauty, but what makes everyone different is our approach, your level of maturity. There are times when you hang out with your friends and you say, “Damn, look at that!” Other times you can be talking about how good an actress or singer looks, and everyone is like hell yea “I’ll do her”, but it will never happen. Outside of me joking around with my friends, yes I admire beauty and there will always be someone that will look better than the next, your girlfriend, boyfriend and yourself; but what makes a relationship great is the trust, the love and the experience of growing and understanding one another, that’s what eventually maturity will lead you to. Every single experience molds you to who you are today, good or bad. Explaining the answer to myself has helped me determine where I stand.

My Blue

The season started yesterday and it looked promising, we lost on errors but the pitchers on both sides (LA & SF) brought there A game. Schmidt settled down after being touched for two early runs, including a solo homer from Lil' Cesar Izturis. Lowe had a good outing until a couple of walks and some errors helped the Giants get ahead on the scoreboard. We looked great tonight, we racked the bullpen for 10, I just hope that these new guys play there hearts out on the field. Good night for now, and GO YOU FUCKEN DODGERS!

Downtown

I miss my camera. I was going through my pictures and I saw this picture I took at night, it's in Downtown LA. Every time I go there I always look at things and then I say to myself that would be a cool picture, I like how cars waiting at the light and people crossing the street looks. An abandoned building, a weather beaten building showing it's age, a window display. I need to get one soon, and need to get my dark room ready, I have most of the items ready to go, just need the camera. Soon I will post pictures... soon.

The Pregunta

I just came home from playing poker at Felipe's house, I lost $2, it was good to play call your own. The night was scheduled on a Saturday which is rare, but it was a special occasion according to Felipe, he said it was our second anniversary of poker night when he sent out the text, lol. I don’t think one person acknowledged it when we started playing.


I read about three pages from a book called "Drink Cultura", can't remember the author but he grew up in Texas and stated his family lived in Juarez, Chihuahua. I'm writing about the book because the pages I read hit close to home, a radio station in Mexico asked the author, "Do you write as a Mexican or a Gringo?" I think about this question and ask myself, do I "think" or "live" like a Mexican or a Gringo? It's a hard question to answer since I was born here and lived in Mexico for most of my young days and part of my early teen age. As I think about the question I think about numerous things; how my life has changed because I live in the US, how my kids will not think or be the same as me. Having lived in Mexico was a great experience for me, I learned about the Conquista, Diego Rivera, Miguel Hidalgo, Zapata, Villa, Porfirio Diaz, la Malinche, La Guerra de los pasteles, literatura espanola, el Argentino Jorge Luis Borges, el Chileno Pable Neruda, el Espanol Federico Garcia Lorca, and what many consider Mexican Independence, "Cinco De Mayo". In the US I learned about Hemingway, Poe, the declaration of Independence, how the west was lost, Pavlov and the “conditioned reflex”, slavery, and most importantly I have experienced Capitalism first hand. I have listed so many things that perhaps are pointless, but because of those things I have a point of view from both sides of the border. I think about my daughter and future kids, how they will not know what it's like to be or to understand that part of me, to have lived there and seen poverty, to grow up with living next to familes of 10 and all are living in a two bedroom house. Visiting la abuela and have her give you a toston, your mother to give you la bendicion. With all that said, I am Mexican and Gringo when I see it to work in my advantage. Many of my friend’s parents are Mexican and they were born here, do they consider themselves Mexican or Gringos? I'm Mexican when we play the US soccer team, I'm Gringo when we compete in the Olympics, I'm Mexican when I hear the national anthem, it makes me feel that I have "el corazon en la mano", and I'm a gringo when I cross the border... US citizen sir! I love my Gringo freedom and all the luxuries it has afforded me. My lifestyle now is not one of a Mexican at all, I speak spanish at work and at home not a word is spoken unless my parents are over. I can say that you dont have to live like one to be one, but everything I do is very american. Most of the music I listen to is in English, rock, r&b, etc. etc. If I keep typing I might convince you that I'm lost, or that I have an identity issue. I rambled on and perhaps didn't make one valid point, but it's good to know que puedo gritar "Viva Mexico Cabrones!" and to know that if I chant UUUU S A, UUUU S AAAAAAAA! Either one will make me feel good.

Sad News

News agencies are reporting that the Pope has died, the Vatican is denying his death; either way, sad day for catholics around the world. El canto de todos los mexicanos... "Juan Pablo Segundo, Lo Quiere Todo El Mundo"


I've been reading the Da Vinci Code for several months and I just can't finish the damn book, don't get me wrong, it's a great story but I just can't get to the end. Reading the book makes me understand how the book has pissed off so many people, Opus Dei, Catholics, Christians, and everyone who associates themselves with the man. It's a great story, it's science fiction but it's written so well that some of the information "is" and other appears to be historical fact. The book makes you go mad (crazy in a good way, makes the wheel inside my brain turn) about the information it gives you. You wonder, and then you tell yourself... "it all makes sense", but then I stop to think... "this is exactly what the author wants me to do"... delve into and think that it's fact, he does a great job.


Lately I've been thinking about going to Japan, and YES I WILL TAKE YOU WITH ME! I think about learning the language, and how it would be a very interesting place to visit and even live. To sit in the subway, and be with millions of people and not a word being muttered. To be in Japans old capital, Kyoto, and to be in Tokyo, the east's NY City, that would be so much fun and best of all the geat pictures I can take. "Some day" like my dad used to tell me when I was younger, all I can do now is hope that I visit the Orient and Europe later.


~Cool Lyrics From B-Movie~
every night, every day
in that all old familiar light
you hang up when i call you at home.
and i try to get through
ant i try to talk to you
but theres something stopping me from getting through.

Been A While

I'm wired with caffeine, my body feels like it wants to race down the slick track. That's after I had a Venti Vanilla latee with a shot of esspreso. "I'm a race car and you got me in the red. Redline 7000, that's where you are. Just know, it's fuckin' dangerous to be drivin' a race car when it's in the red. It could blow." I'm quoting Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction, that's how I feel right now. I haven't written in a while, I was wondering when I would come back... this is all for now.

You read the words and it sells you life, They sell there words, but it's all a lie. STP

Sapphire & A Movie

Dim room, TV tilted to avoid glare, and me sipping on some Sapphire and Tonic while I watch the movie Se7en. That's where I find myself today, I'm watching Se7en and every time I see it I always forget parts of the movie, great story telling, and very great idea for a fucken movie. It's pretty fucked up, to quote John Doe in the movie (Kevin Spacey) "We see a deadly sin on every street corner, in every home, and we tolerate it, tolerate it becuase it's trivial... morning, noon, and night". I am a religious person to a certain point, but when I listen to something like this, it's crazy, coming from a movie, but to live in this city or world and to know that shit like this happens... it baffles me. Last night I finished watching the movie 21 Grams, and it was a cool, but like I told Alicia, no one can do back and forth story telling like Quentin Tarantino, the movie had to much of it, could've done with out it. Interesting plot and I give it a 3 stars, but I just can't find myself to like Naomi Watts, Benicio is the shit, and I'll leave it at that; Sean Penn was nominated for an academy award, which is worthy of the nomination. I forgot to mention that I had some Phillipes, a roast double dip with macaroni salad, mmm mmm.

This is a cool quote from the movie by Detective Mills (Brad Pitt).
"You're no Mesiah, you are a movie of the week, a t-shirt at best."

Cowboy Freak

Today I dressed up like a cowboy, put my boots on, got my playboy belt buckle ,my plaid shirt, and you can't forget my hat! I started my day by getting ready, dressing up and heading out the door. The day before I had signed up to sing Kareoki, I had no idea what I was going to sing, more on this later. Through out the day I said "howdy" and "Hey there partner" as I ran into cowboys in the hallways. By the time Kareoki came around I was determined I wasn't going to participate, I was gettting butterflies and I said nope, to many people here, "I WANT OUT!" I heard them call my name when I was down the hall, I wanted to keep walking but I made myself go back and wait my turn again. I looked through the songs, remember I hadn't made my choice and I had no clue what I was going to sing, when I see RICK JAMES! so I went with Rick James - Super Freak. I was up on stage and I was very scared and I was a bit embarrased, but after a few lines I felt great, the crowd was in it, and I even saw a girl and she said "She likes the boys in the band, she said that I'm her all time favorite", lol, just kidding about the girl but the place really got into the song, which was a plus. I won the American Cowboy Idol contest at work, and in my tight back pocket, two $25 gift certificates rode with me all the way home. I wish I can say the money rode with me as the sun set, but it was freakin 8:50 pm when I got home, almost 14 hours I left home. Well I'll leave it at that because I have rambled on for a while.

Remember... IM RICK JAMES BEEEEAAATCH!!!! and since I won the $50... IM RICH BEEEEAAATCH!!!!

The Day Is Not Over Yet

I feel better! Those were the words that came out of my mouth after I had lunch with my beautiful girlfriend. I was experiencing some what of a panic attack, very jittery and it gave me a tired feeling, I just wanted to get rid of it. We talked about how we spend Sunday nights together and the fact that we enjoy each others company. She's warming up to the idea of a loft, so we'll have to visit a place when the time comes, hopefuly she likes them and we agree on looking into getting one.

I've been tired lately, this overtime is getting to be a real drag, it starts to take it's toll on hump day, but we shall overcome. Tonight we will meet again, have dinner and enjoy a movie, we will have a choice from The Score or 21 Grams., I'll post a movie review tomorrow.

Catching Up With The Weekend

What's the best way to end the week? A great weekend!

Friday after work I went home and drank me some Vodka and OJ while I played some S.O.C.O.M, after a couple of snipes and confirmed kills, I ended the day. Saturday started around 12:35pm, I can't think of the last time I slept in until that time without a phone call or text message to interrupt my sleep, IT FELT SO FUCKEN GOOD! That night I saw the Morales v Pacquiao fight, great to the last round but I wanted a KO! Earlier that day I drove to Arcadia and did some quick shopping, I had two gift cards that I had to rid myself of, one for the Gap and another to Nordstrom. Below you will see my new shows that I bought at Nordstrom, my new Lacoste.



I was getting ready to go shopping, when on the TV I saw Toshi Kubota, he was performing “Breaking Through” on Soul Train. The song was over and I told myself I have to get his album, I haven’t bought a “NeoSoul” Cd in a while, I was due. They talked to Toshi for a while and he explained his love for soul music, how his first record he bought was that of Stevie Wonder. The Album has 10 songs, not many, but the few songs on this album give you everything, good lyrics and beats. He co-wrote some songs with Angie Stone and worked with Mos Def on one of his songs. Check out the album cover.



Sunday was a simple day, my sabath, but one where I don’t allow myself to do work. I didn’t do much other than go have breakfast, I shared a great conversation with my beautiful girlfriend over some omelets and coffee, and we tried to put both brains together and play the IQ game at the counter. We went grocery shopping around noon, we also had a quick stop at LAX to pick up my brother. I ended my weekend with one of my favorite past times, watching a movie. House of Sand and Fog was playing at my “bedroom-plex”, all I can say is that it was a great movie. The ending was something I wasn’t ready for, and it gets my sore thumb of approval.

Ben Kingsley from House of Sand and Fog.