iPod nano

I went to go see this item in the Apple Store and I gotta tell you, it's pretty damn cool. Simple, elegant. A little pricey, but come on, it looks cool.

WARNING! Don't get one yet! There's been issues with the plastic over the screen. They say they use the hardest polycarbonate material, but people are already complaining at how easily it scratches...enough to where the screen may become unusable over time. And looks are everything, too!

I'm sure Apple will do something about it...so I am just telling you to wait.

Forget hacking computers...

Let's hack Coke machines! Make your Cokes cost a penny!
(Click the machine for details)



Or hack elevators!
"The designers of some elevators include a hidden feature that is very handy if you're in a hurry or it's a busy time in the building (like check-out time in a hotel). While some elevators require a key, others can be put into "Express" mode by pressing the "Door Close" and "Floor" buttons at the same time. This sweeps the car to the floor of your choice and avoids stops at any other floor. This seems to work on most elevators. Most elevators have the option for this to work, but on some of them the option is turned off by whoever runs them."
(Try it, it's worth a shot!)

Sunday at the Getty

On Sunday, I went with my sister to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. If you haven't been there yet, you should definitely plan to make a nice afternoon of it. Lots of photo ops!

The garden area is especially nice. They must be grooming this place 24 hours a day. It's always in perfect condition. Here are some views of the Central Garden:

Everywhere you walk within this museum complex, you'll be surrounded by the rough textured beige marble. Apparently they imported 1.2 million square feet of this travertine marble from Italy. Must've cost a fortune. It's seriously everywhere.


My favorite location at the Getty is the cactus garden. Definitely the most out of the ordinary garden I've ever seen. Pretty surreal.

Oh, and then there's art there, too. One of their most famous pieces is Irises by Van Gogh. It's known as the 7th most expensive painting ever sold ($49 million). There are also a few Monets and some cool sculptures.

It was a great day.

Celebrity Jeopardy on SNL

I'm sure you have seen at least one of these sketches on Saturday Night Live. They're all pretty hilarious. And with Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek, you never go wrong. That's "Therapists," not "The rapists."

All 13 episodes! (Click here)

Happy Mini

The Mini got a detailing this past weekend. I'd go into detail on how good a job they did, but that would bore you. The Mini is happy now...except for the fact that it rained this morning.

It deserves a couple pictures.

Happy Birthday, Amy !

On Saturday, we all got together and celebrated Amy's Birthday! Dinner was at Buca di Beppo (which means "Joe's Basement". I had to look it up. It bothered me.) Of course we ordered too much food...I think it's impossible to avoid.

After dinner, we went back to Daniel and Amy's to have some cake. Daniel baked her a nice chocolate cake and it was served on some personalized styrofoam plates. (That's mine on the bottom.)

And then the cake got presented. Amy got all 10 candles out and she even did the Happy Birthday Cha Cha for all of us. Amy, what's that pig doing there?

Presto spent the evening being held by different people all night. He's such a good boy. Here you can see Preston wondering how Michiko is making the butterfly come to life.






After cake, the party took a traditional split...Poker and Pounce. Daniel, Gige (Glenn Ige), Gina (Glenn Inanaga), and I played some No-Limit Hold'em. I got killed on the river a few times. That's always sad. In this picture, you can see Daniel standing up and going all in. Proof that poker and fatherhood can coexist.

Happy Birthday, Amy!

Fondue Friday #3

You may remember Fondue Friday #1 and Fondue Friday #2. Well, this past Friday was yet another successful Fondue Friday. Joanne's friends came over and we enjoyed a fantastic sukiyaki dinner (made by my wonderful wife). Shortly after, we had some strawberry daquiris and then moved to the fondue dessert. Mmmm....


You can see we went with the reliables (pound cake, bananas, graham crackers), but tried larger pretzels this time. They were great! The increased salt content made them more enjoyable. The chocolate fondue recipe has changed each time we have done it. This time we went with 1 cup whipping cream, 20 oz chocolate (1/3 dark, 2/3 milk), and 3 oz. Grand Marnier. Just might be our best mix yet.

Afterward, we got in some quality Atari time. Kristine and Lara battled it out in Freeway, although Lara proved to be the best chicken to cross the road. Afterward, Lara and Joanne played some Foosball Pong, where Joanne came out champion.

Thanks everyone for comin' over!

Arrrr, matey !

Ahoy! If you didn't already know, it's Talk Like a Pirate Day! Your entire day should be dedicated to talking like a pirate, or ye be a bilge rat!

If you want to learn how, check here.

Enjoy! Arrrr.....

I feel appreciated.

Our work had Employee Appreciation Day this past Tuesday. It was a Western-themed, carnival/car show with In-N-Out for lunch. Only had my camera phone to document the event. Here are the highlights:

Our company hired this guy to just walk around to support the Western theme. Not really. Cowboy Jack kicked off the event sportin' the cowboy hat he won by hooking the hat on the bull's horns. (Yes, he just happened to be wearing that shirt)

Here are a couple cars from the car show portion of the event. A Shelby Cobra and a Nash Metropolitan. Actually, the Nash is a car that used to be built right here in El Segundo. (that's why we have a Nash Street)

Joel and I had a tricycle challenge. We went head to head on their mini road course. It was two laps around the track. Those things may have three wheels, but they are not stable! We practically fell over a few times. Joel took the early lead in the race and on the final stretch, he lost his hat and I won!

They even had live animals! This buffalo knew how to skateboard, too.

For lunch they brought in 3 huge In-N-Out trucks that were serving tons of Double Doubles.

That's the way every lunch break should be.

Rube Goldberg

Do you remember this ad? If you haven't seen it yet, it's pretty sweet.

Google Blog Search

Google has added yet another search engine. Now you can search through all publicly published blogs. Not all of our posts are on there, but they'll start piling up.

No kitty that's ma pot pie!

Okay, so it's not pot pie, but can you eat it in 15 bites? (Click the pie)

What did you do on Sunday?

Good question. Glad you asked.

First off, we got to spend a good 20 minutes with Eddy and Stephanie as they picked up their wedding gifts from my parents' house. They were so nice and relaxed from their honeymoon in Aruba. (They had a fantastic time) And, amazingly, all their gifts fit in their car!

We then drove over to Daniel and Amy's house to go see Preston (and visit with Daniel and Amy, of course). It was lunch/dinnertime for Preston and it was time for him to eat his single grain cereal which he recently graduated to. I guess when you have two teeth you can go crazy. Here he is being fed by Dad, only it's so exhausting opening your mouth for the food that you get sleepy.
Even meals are an adventure!

But nothing, I mean nothing, could prepare me for what happened next. A few months ago, I got Preston what every 3-month old should have...Legos. It's never too early for Lego Baby. When I last visited, Preston only liked to suck on the head of Stackie the Giraffe. This time around, the head still tasted pretty good, but that wasn't all! We layed out all the pieces to Stackie and Presto would grab each piece by the Lego peg. Very nice. Then, with a little assistance from Daniel, he would move one piece toward the proper connecting piece. Once he had the four base pieces assembled, he grabbed Stackie's head and (unassisted) stuck it right on top! That's ma boy!

He's only 5 months old and he's a genius.

And to top off the evening, Amy made us dinner and dessert. For dessert, she made us some homemade Pizookies! In case you didn't know, a Pizookie is the famous dessert they serve at BJ's restaurant. It's only a cookie with ice cream, but it's a warm, fresh cookie with ice cream melting on top. It's a delight! (I made the picture nice and big in case you were hungry)

So, yeah, that's what we did on Sunday.

An SNL Classic

I put this up on our website just for your enjoyment and plus it's Star Wars. It's ages old, but it's still a classic sketch from SNL.

(Click here to download)

I'm a hippopotamus and I got noodles on my back.

Click the hippo for some great fun.

Hello.

Come on. Isn't he funny?

Speaking of Disney, Hong Kong Disneyland opened yesterday.