So You Think You Can Dance

Don't watch the show, but who needs to when you can get highlights like this. (LINK)

It's Spelling Bee Time !

Exactly one year ago, we all were watching the biggest event in sports...The Scripps National Spelling Bee. And now, it's back. This year, 275 spellers qualified to be a contestant in the spelling bee, the largest number in the history of the event. This year there are two 15-year olds and one 9-year old, with everyone else falling between. The first 4 rounds are going on today. In the end, approximately 45 spellers will remain. In order to qualify, spellers had to pass the written exam.
(See if you could've made it)


Repeating for his 4th year is twelve-year old Samir Patel, who finished in the Final 3 last year. We'll definitely be watching his performance this year.







ESPN will be covering the Preliminary Championship Rounds tomorrow live from 9am-12pm. The Championship Rounds will be shown (on delay) in primetime on ABC from 8-10pm. Both channels will be broadcasting in high definition! Tune in to see all the action!

Coinstar

This past weekend Joanne and I went to go turn in our coins at the Coinstar Machine at Stater Brothers. I was never really a fan of Coinstar machines because of the 8.9 cents per dollar counting fee they charged. That was lame! But then I heard that they can waive the counting fee if you turn them into gift certificates for Amazon.com, Starbucks, iTunes, Borders, and Linens 'n Things. And since I'm always getting stuff through Amazon.com, I figured it was a great option. So what was the grand total? $204.46! I'm ready to get a Nintendo DS Lite now!






The Coinstar machine had a bad connection so the Amazon.com gift certificate didn't register. Luckily a quick call to Coinstar remedied that problem and they sent me the $18.20 difference via email.






Did you see X3? $120.1 million over the weekend! $45.5 million on Friday night! That's the 2nd biggest opening day...behind Star Wars: Episode III!

Frogger

Perfect for your lazy Friday. (LINK)

Hello? Is it me you're looking for?

Yes, that is Lionel Richie. The moment I had a chance to put Lionel Richie on our blog, I jumped right at it. Get on the bandwagon...he's huge! (in Iraq) Seriously. ABC Nightline just did a story about Baghdad's obsession with Lionel Richie. They are just in love with the guy. You've gotta check out this article, but mostly you have to click on the video link to watch the news report. (Check it out!)

Go Dodger Blue !

Last night, Boeing bought out two luxury suites for us to check out the Dodgers at the peak of their season. It was my first time in the Dodger Stadium suites and I was very impressed (even moreso than the luxury boxes at Staples Center). Here was our view of the game:

The suites were huge and were very well stocked with all sorts of goodies: Dodger dogs, ribs, potato salad, fruit, popcorn, peanuts, and tons of beer and soda. There was lots of room for us to just hang out and party.

I definitely liked the feel from the seats. I still felt like I was part of the crowd and excitement. Here we are just enjoying the game.

We got to see lots of great action since they destroyed the Rockies, 7-1. Now the Dodgers have 7 straight wins and are only a half game back from being #1 in the NL West. Here's Nomar Garciaparra at bat. He scored 2 runs in the game.

The best part was when we were standing around the plasma screen watching the last few minutes of the Suns vs. Mavs game. How great is that?

And it's always a treat seeing one of these beauties floating down from the Reserved Level. I think the best part of this floating napkin was that it had a message to deliver. "Ha ha! Look at this country! 'U-R-Gay'." (Homer from The Simpsons)

And you know things are going well when you can have free reign at the dessert cart. Caramel apples, carrot cake, and shots of Grand Marnier in dark chocolate shooters. Nice.

Since we were just a bunch of guys, we milked this place for all of its consumable offerings. We ate tons of food and cleared out the fridge. We even had to order more beer. Needless to say, it was a great time.

All 22 photos here.

X3

I think the movie I have been most excited to see this summer was X3: The Last Stand. We'll be checking it out on opening night tomorrow.

If you check it out this weekend, don't forget to stay til the end of the credits. Apparently they will have a bonus scene at the very end. (ARTICLE)

This morning I watched Bugs Bunny's Rhapsody Rabbit. It's a classic.

Morning Cartoons

Now that I am out of school and working everyday, I don't find the time in the morning to watch my cartoons. Even if I did, I don't think I'd be able to find good reruns of Duck Tales, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Tom & Jerry, Thundercats, or the Transformers when I needed them (these were my top 5 morning cartoons...Smurfs, Woody Woodpecker and Bugs Bunny were real close). Thank goodness for the internet. I found a place where I can watch a few of these gems each morning on YouTube. Check them out! (LINK)


This morning I checked out Donald Duck's
Hockey Champ. Fantastic cartoon. Enjoy!

Triple Birthday !

On Saturday, we had a super birthday extravaganza! Triple Birthday! It was the birthdays for two Glenn's (Inanaga and Ige) and a Joanne. We went to PF Chang's to have dinner and then we went back to our place for post-party and cake celebration.

Birthday gifts have become somewhat systematic, but no one really complains too much. Best Buy Gift Cards for group gifts are clearly the most common solution to any birthday gift. We've even reached a point where making any attempt to hide the group birthday card during the signing process is gone.

When it's birthday time, it's photo cake time. This time around, I chose a 3-headed monster for their cake:

And everytime we have a get-together, there's almost always a Presto Update. He's sure getting talented. He's always loved to drink directly out of water bottles and now he's taking off the cap and putting it back on between sips! Check him out!

Conspiracy !

Despite the insanely bad reviews of The Da Vinci Code last week, we went to go check it out this past weekend. I thought it was pretty good and enjoyable. I didn't read the book (cause I don't read), but Joanne did and she enjoyed it, too. Then why the heck is it getting 16% reviews on Rotten Tomatoes? (now recovering to 22%) Why were people leaving halfway through the movie at the film festivals? Why? Because that's what the news reported...it's a conspiracy. Since this movie questions Christianity, I think it's a religious conspiracy. Hello? It's just a movie! How can a horrible movie like Daredevil get a 44% positive review and double the score on The Da Vinci Code? Conspiracy.

I thought it was a pretty fun movie to watch. A little long, but not that bad. Anyway, don't avoid this movie like the plague (like I almost did because of the reviews).

The Emperor

Here's a pretty funny clip from Robot Chicken (on the Cartoon Network).

Happy Birthday, Joanne !

Today is Joanne's birthday! Everyone say Happy Birthday!

And, Joanne, enjoy your day off!

Geraldo

Walked past this little gem this past weekend. That's all I need to say.

Lakers Rumors

From the rumor mill...

I'll take KG.

And in other news...Kobe ditched #8. Now he's #24. Why change?

The Office

I just thought I'd tell you all that I'm a little sad that the season is over for my favorite show, The Office. I went home every Thursday night very excited to see the funniest show I've seen in a long time...and now I'll have to settle for reruns. It had to be one of the fastest half hours ever. They had a strong season finale and I'll just be waiting for Season 2 to come out on DVD so I can relieve our Tivo of all of the episodes. (Joanne will be quite thankful)

Dinkin' flicka!

Rockin' Tulsa !

If you told me 6 months ago that I would be taking a vacation to Tulsa, Oklahoma I would never have believed you. I think that's what made the trip so fantastic! My friend Eddy just got a new job at Hilti, a construction tool company where he will be the engineering contact for tooling sales across the country. Luckily he'll still be located in LA, but for 3 weeks he has to do his training in Tulsa, Oklahoma! Since I can only imagine how depressing that could be, I went out to Tulsa to visit him...and I was determined to find the hidden gems of Tulsa. Here's how it went:

Friday morning, I flew (free with miles) into Tulsa via San Antonio. I picked up my rental car...a Chevrolet Impala (not nearly as cool as rollin in a 6-4). By the time I got there it was time for dinner, so Eddy asked where to get good local meat. Conveniently, it was across the street at Texas Roadhouse. Ribeye and RIBS! Fantastic ribs...I'm sure Eddy is back there this weekend since Steph is in town.

We hung out with Eddy's Hilti Buddies that were there for the same training. We went to check out the haps at the Mexican Restaurant since they had a little To-Do for Cinco de Mayo. Too bad it was lame (must not be a very big deal out in Oklahoma). Afterward, we went to check out Mission Impossible: 3 (which is why I saw it a second time with Joanne).

The next morning, Eddy and I were determined to check out all the places I had researched. It wasn't your typical vacation research though. Typical research would have led us to just museums, restaurants, and parks. (There ain't much in Tulsa) I did a Google search for "Tulsa" and "world's largest" and turns out Tulsa is a hotspot for some of the world's largest stuff. Some of these items might be self-proclaimed world's largest, but I'm easily sold.

First stop: The world's largest (and only) Golden Driller. At 76 feet tall, the Golden Driller stands in front of the International Petroleum Exhibition Building which claims to have the world's largest unobstructed interior volume. Whoa. And beside him, is one of the many penguins located all around Tulsa city.

Next stop: Catoosa...to see the world's largest (non-mammal) blue whale. Made of rebar and concrete, this blue whale is a highly prized attraction in Tulsa. It's on all the maps! This was a real treat for us. It's even noted as a Route 66 landmark.

Needless to say it was a big photo opportunity. You can see me way out on the tail. And then you can see Eddy coming out of his nose.

Next, we drove out to Woolaroc to check out the cool collection of animals. They had bison (aka buffalo), llama, horned cattle, emu, deer, and water buffalo. Check out the pissed-off llama and the cool horned cattle.

They had a museum full of Indian artifacts and a bunch of animal heads on the wall. I can understand a big bison head, but a little jackrabbit?

Did you get your tickets? To what? The Gun Show.

On the way back we stopped by Weber's Root Beer of Tulsa. Any place that has "Root Beer" on their sign has to be worth a stop. And was it ever! Frosty mugs full of fantastic root beer with some onion rings on the side. Life doesn't get much better...

But then it happened. As we were flipping through the local radio stations, we just happened to stop on the religious station. Out came the most victorious song..."Praise the Lord..." It paralleled that of the Star Spangled Banner. I can still hear it now. And just then, towering above the trees, we saw it...The World's Largest Praying Hands! What timing! The hands were huge! We had definitely reached the pinnacle of our weekend. Weighing 30 tons, the Praying Hands were cast in 1980 and at the time was the world's largest bronze sculpture.

That was definitely the high point of our weekend...especially since we went to a local sports bar to watch Game 7 of the Lakers vs. Suns playoff series. Luckily the beer in Tulsa is super cheap. Only $1.50 a pint!

Thanks, Eddy, for the great weekend. I had a great time, but I don't think I'll ever be back.

For all 88 of the pictures, go here.