1230 fish story

Ching and I decided to get together for dinner. I was thinking familiar, like Mimi’s Cafe. I received an email from her that she wanted to try Bourbon Street Fish, in Inglewood by the Forum. I’m always into trying new things so I agreed.

After she picked me up, we soon found ourselves driving north on Prairie from the 405 freeway. We got so involved in our conversation, that we passed the restaurant. When I say “restaurant”, I’m being extremely liberal.

From the architecture, my guess was that it was housed in a converted service station. After we found parking (very limited), we made our way to the door. Looking in through the window, we thought the place was closed, because most of the tables had upside-down chairs on top of them.

A man (later identified as the owner) opened the door and welcomed us inside. He confirmed that they were indeed open and set-up a table for us (basically taking the chairs off the tabletop and wiping the surface with a cloth).

We ordered separately, but I do recall that the catfish was well-prepared, full of flavor, and fresh. Very incongruous to the exterior. The whole dining experience was very pleasurable.

1224 christmas eve

My friend, Judy K, picked me up for the Christmas Eve service at SBCC. There were two services (4:00 and 5:30), but we were attending the 5:30pm service. After opening worship with Pastor Joey and the Worship Team, there was a performance by the Hula Team, as they danced and gestured to “Away In A Manger”. It was very beautiful.

Pastor Gary gave a message about hope and told the story of an American POW during the Vietnam War, who was shot down on Christmas Eve four decades earlier. The service ended with candlelight provided by lit candles in the hands of the congregation.

After the service, I saw Carol and asked what the plans were for dinner (we had talked earlier about getting something to eat). She said that instead of driving around and checking what was still open (like last year) and ending up at Norm’s, the plan was to go straight to Norm’s. So we did.

As we were entering the restaurant, Mike told us to look at the special thru the window. They had a New York steak dinner on a sign. Someone asked him if he was in the mood for steak. He told us to look underneath the steak. Under the steak, the sign read “includes dessert” and had a picture of a brownie with a scoop of ice cream. Guess what. Half of us ordered the steak special.

1221 home for christmas

The Youth Ministry at South Bay Community Church was putting on a production called “Home For Christmas” and it was a combination of live drama, film, dance, and live music. The kids did a great job with the show.

Ching came by early and we went to Azuma for dinner. We were so engrossed in conversation that we lost track of time. When we checked the time, we had twenty minutes before the show started. We barely made it in time. Fortunately, Azuma is about seven minutes from the church.

1220 dim sum

After service at SBCC, our Koinonia lifegroup met in the Dugout for our participation in the prayer for the church’s move, then we went to Seafood Empress for dim sum, just like we did last year. Sam gave me a ride over there and I used the walker to get from the car to the table. Maybe I’ll use the wheelchair next year to save time.

1218 brian setzer

Netty picked me up and off we went to the Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal (formerly known as the Universal Amphitheatre) to see the Brian Setzer Orchestra live. There were a couple of opening acts, so we met Didier and his friends, and went to Tony Roma’s in CityWalk for some food and drinks.

Didier’s friends were Rambo and Fig. My friend was Netty. For once, I had the name that stuck out. I had a Mango Margarita that was really big. Fortunately, Netty was driving, although navigating the wheelchair was fun.

We made it to the concert during the break between the second opener and the Brian Setzer Orchestra. I last saw the BSO four years ago and listening to them while watching them perform, was great!

1214 3-D is here

I saw a news report on TV that talked about the evolution of technology in televisions. It mentioned that the recent development is in high-definition but the next step will be a three-dimensional image. 3-D has been used since the fifties, but never before has it been built into the technology of a television.

If they can make it work, weather reports will be much more popular (see 11/06/08 post).

1212 whirlybird

It was overcast and windy, so Jim Y and I went “walking” in Lakewood Center. It had been several months since our last visit. One of the stores changed tenants. The current tenant was selling gifts and the remote control helicopters caught Jim’s attention.

When we were ending our circuit, I leaned against a wall so that Jim could go in and check them out. He ended up buying two of them for his boys. Mind you ... one’s at UCI and the other is a senior in high school.

1211 membership christmas party

The Membership Christmas Party at SBCC was tonight, but there was an unexpected surprise. The actual dinner was being held in the Worship Center! Yes, the room where food and beverages were prohibited. As I understand it, since the church has to move out by June 1, 2010, and the new owners indicated that the carpeting would be removed, carpet stains were no longer a concern. Nevertheless, we were careful not to spill anything.

After the dinner, we were entertained by the Ukelele Group that played and sang Christmas carols. Then Pastor Gary said a few words and welcomed the new members. He also announced that Ken and Natsuko were celebrating the birth of their 2nd daughter, Reese, just earlier that day. That’s why Pastor Ken wasn’t present.

Unfortunately, Ken knew that Natsuko was due, so he appointed Jim Y to take his place in running “the game”. For those of us who were expecting a reprieve, we were disappointed. Everyone was drawn into “the game”. I thought I could escape it by going to the restroom when it started (with the walker, it’s a task that can easily take 15 minutes). But when I returned, “the game” was still going on.

“The game” involved unscrambling letters to form a word. The guys with Hawaii Five-O were having trouble, since the word didn’t end in a vowel. The results of “the game” determined the order in which people would claim their gifts in the exchange.

1128 everything should taste like bacon

Jim Y came by for our walk at Liberty Park. Since the weather was overcast and cool, we noticed that most of the women were wearing sweats. I told Jim that his trolling wasn’t going to be as productive.

I had to go to an ATM, so instead of fighting traffic at the Cerritos Mall, we ended up at a branch of my bank near Norwalk and the 91 freeway. As a result, we had lunch at Polly’s Pies, which is in the same parking lot as my bank.

After we ordered, we noticed some shakers on the table. One was Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, with a label that said it was to be used on french fries. That made sense. The other one was just labeled “Bacon Salt”, with a slogan that “everything should taste like bacon”. Jim tried both, but the face he made while trying the “Bacon Salt” told me that I didn’t want to try it out.

1126 happy turkey day!

Thanksgiving was at my sister’s place. There was a lot of food, and it was all delicious. We joked that Mike’s (my brother-in-law) younger sister usually made an extra turkey, but she was vacationing in Australia. So my sister said that she didn’t have a back-up this year. Not a problem. The turkey was just fine.

At least we didn’t have a “project”, like we did two Thanksgivings ago (see post on 11/22/07).

1121 E ticket ride

There is a restroom at the back of the bus. I tried to hold it, but had to go when the bus stopped in Montebello to drop-off eight people. There were handrails by the toilet, but nothing prepared me for the moment that the bus left and started on its way to Gardena. I was unable to see anything when the bus slowed for a signal, then accelerated when the light turned green. Plus, the bus also made right and left turns.

Imagine being seated on a bucket in the back of a pickup truck, while wearing a blindfold, and only having the side rails to hold on to. It’s not easy.

1121 buffet!

Jeff and Jo had dinner plans, so Ching and I went to the buffet at Main Street Station. It was prime rib night. Mmmmm. There were a lot of choices other than the prime rib. There was kalua pork, sushi, chow mein, and much, much, more. If we didn’t have to get back to the bus, we would have stayed longer.

1121 jeff and jo

We met up with Jeff and Jolana and had some drinks while we traded stories. Both of them graduated from high school at the same time I did, and they were married a few months after graduation. Now they’re grandparents.

The one thing I like about Nevada is that you can drink in public. Jeff and I had lite beers, while Jo had a diet cola and rum. Ching was circling around us, taking pictures with my camera. I found out later that she took about 15 pictures.

Jeff and Jo said that the next time I’m in Vegas overnight, they’ll take me to a bordello that gives guided tours. I’ll be sure to take photos on that trip.

1121 A-B-C

One stop was made at an ABC store. I hadn’t seen one of these since my trip to Hawaii in 2005. The interior was similar to many of the Waikiki ABC stores. Over there, there was one on every block, I kid you not.

1121 twinkie

We started at one end of Fremont Street and strolled to the other end. We stopped at the Mermaids casino to try a deep-fried twinkie. We saw the sign outside and that was the only reason we went in.

1121 recharge time

After arriving at the California in downtown Las Vegas, we turned in some coupons at the Players Gold desk, and then headed to the gift shop on the second floor. While I was looking around the gift shop, Ching found a wall outlet and parked herself beside it to charge the battery on her iPhone.

When I left the gift shop, she moved to a padded bench and took a power nap. Shortly afterwards, we left to take in the sights on Fremont Street.

1121 sleep is overrated

Ching picked me up early to make it to the departure of the turnaround bus from Gardena. Twice a year, my friend, Susan, charters a bus to Nevada. In the summer, the trip is an overnighter (leave Friday and come back on Sunday) and goes to Las Vegas. In the fall, the trip is a one-day turnaround, with the destination being either Stateline or Las Vegas. This one was a Las Vegas trip.

After leaving Gardena around 6:30am, the bus headed for the Metrolink station in Montebello to pick up the eight that chose to depart from there. After just a few minutes, we were on our way.

Ching had told me that she was going to sleep most of the way to Las Vegas, but apparently sleep was not a high priority. Instead, she showed me her new iPhone, with 8 pages of apps.

1117 don't let the door hit you on the way out ...

I met with Calvin today. He was feeling much better this week. He had me working on wrist exercises and leg exercises.

Most of the session was spent on walking with the poles. One of the challenges is an automated door. The entrances to the building have an automated door for the disabled. By pushing a button, one of the doors open automatically

1112 coffee break

I read a study that indicated coffee was a good way to lessen the effects of certain ailments. In order to help prevent the onset of Parkinson’s disease, the article recommended drinking at least five cups of coffee a day.

Hmmmm. I thought shaking was a sign that someone had too much coffee....

1111 senior discount

Mike came over for our study of Psalms. We’re using a study guide by Kay Arthur and Pete De Lacy, but that one is broken up into weeks and days. Each day has a reading assignment of one or two chapters. Day Seven of Week One is a review of Psalm 1-8. That’s where we are right now.

We started our study in September. We’re a little behind schedule, but I think it will work itself out.

For lunch, we went to Norm’s Restaurant in Lakewood. As we were going in, we saw a sign that read, “20% Senior Discount on Wednesdays”. Once we were seated, Mike asked a server about the Senior Discount.

The server replied, “It’s for those 55 and older, but it’s only valid from 2pm to 10pm”.

Mike looked at me and said, “Darn. I was born before 2pm.”

1110 timed walk?

Calvin was recovering from a cold, so he and Christina switched days for my therapy After some exercises, Christina had me doing some walking in a courtyard for a 6-minute walk with the walker, to see how much distance I can cover. Reminds me of Jenn’s “Ten-Minute Walk” (see 12/17/08 post).

1109 be happy

A friend sent me this joke.

A man was driving on a busy road. A car traveling in the same direction, but in an adjacent lane, crossed over briefly. The two cars just scraped, but the man motioned for the other driver to pull to the side so they could exchange insurance information. The other driver nodded and the two cars pulled to the side of the road.

When his car stopped, the man removed his key and stepped out of his car to look at the damage. He just saw a scrape on his fender. He looked at the other car and saw another scrape.

Just then, the driver’s door of the other car opened and out stepped a dwarf. He looked at the damage then looked at the man and said, “I am not happy.”

The man said, “Really? Then which one are you?”

Get it? Don’t worry if you didn’t. About half the times I told this joke, I had to explain it. And some of them weren’t blonde.

Think of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Then read the joke again.

1107 better late than never

After service is our bible study of Isaiah. I’ve been meeting with the people for about five years now. Each time we meet, one person serves as facilitator and is responsible for coming up with questions and e-mailing them to the others in a timely manner. This time was no exception.

Steve T was the assigned facilitator and he came up with nine questions. He e-mailed them to the group, but at 8:55am, about ten hours before we were scheduled to meet.

At the other extreme is Lillian, who sent out her questions about 12 days ahead. We only meet on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of every month. But there were some people that thought we were meeting on the Saturday after the questions were sent out.

1106 rabbit joke

I was watching the DVD from “Shall We Dance?” with Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez. In the deleted scenes is a scene where Richard Gere is telling a joke in an elevator. I want to share the joke with you now.

A man was driving down a road when a rabbit darted out into his path. The man braked but was unable to stop in time. The car hit the rabbit. When the car came to a stop, the man jumped out and ran to the rabbit. The rabbit was dead. The man fell to his knees and started crying.

A blonde woman stepped out and told the man not to cry. She pulled out a can and sprayed the rabbit. The rabbit jumped up and hopped down the road. After a few yards, the rabbit turned and waved. The rabbit hopped some more, then turned and waved. The rabbit continued this as it hopped down the road.

The man was amazed as he watched the rabbit disappear from sight. He grabbed the can from the woman. It was a can of hair spray. The label read, “Brings dead hair to life. Adds permanent wave.”

1105 got a light?

Want to help someone quit smoking? A study has shown that certain foods, when eaten, makes cigarettes taste bad. Foods like fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and non-carbonated beverages. Scientists think that certain foods create changes in saliva that make the taste of tobacco products unpalatable.

Some foods, however, make cigarettes taste good. Foods like meat, coffee, and alcoholic beverages. Try to remember that.

So when you see a friend that you want to help quit smoking, pour them a tall glass of orange juice.

1103 going up the down staircase

Today, Calvin reviewed with me some of the exercises. The one thing I remember about the session is that we went up some steps, with my right hand on the handrail and the left hand at my side, holding the center of the walking sticks so that the sticks were parallel with the ground. He was holding onto my gait belt, just in case. It was an interesting feeling to climb the steps without needing support on my left side. I was actually putting all of my weight onto my feet and taking each step by shifting my weight and lifting the unweighted foot.

It’s happening but very slowly.

1102 out of this world

I just saw a commercial for “Planet 51”, an animated movie scheduled for release later this month. One of the scenes showed a mother-creature trying to give a spoonful of medicine to a baby-creature. The mother-creature says “Swallow your medicine or an alien will come and take you away!” Suddenly, a human astronaut (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) crashes through the wall. The mother-creature screams and the baby-creature is downing the bottle of medicine.

I don’t know why, but it brought back a memory of an episode of “Mork & Mindy”, from the 1970s. Mork (played by Robin Williams) was an Orkan sent to Earth to observe humanity. At the end of each episode, he reported in what he learned.

The Orkans were very peaceful and non-fighters. Whenever someone from another planet landed, they hid. They developed a reputation as the best hiders in the universe. They were also unconquered. Whenever someone tried to conquer them, they hid. The invaders would find cities but no people. Frustrated because they didn’t have anyone to subjugate, the invaders left.

Anyways, in one episode, Raquel Welch guest starred as Captain Nirvana, a Necroton who was given the assignment of finding the Orkan on Earth and capturing him. The Orkans and the Necrotons were enemies. The voice that gave Captain Nirvana her orders also said, “Capture him before he hides. Because once he hides, you’ll never find him!”

Near the end of the episode, Mork confronts Captain Nirvana. Hiding behind Mindy (played by Pam Dawber) but looking over her shoulder, he said “There she is. Look at her. Have you ever seen anything more hideous?”

For some reason, I thought of this. I wonder why?

1101 time flies

Ed and I arrived at West High. From the parking lot to the gym, there is a gate to go through. After letting others go thru, we managed to squeeze the wheelchair thru the gate, but it took several attempts. Later on, a friend would suggest “ramming speed”, but the wheelchair would’ve just stopped at the gate and I would’ve gone flying.

The gym that his team was playing in was just a short distance away, but the gym had three courts and the end that Ed’s team was playing didn’t have a lot of room. So Ed suggested that I find a place at the other end. With his help, I backed into a corner. But I soon found out that the corner was playable. When the current volley ended, I wheeled out the open door, in order to not be in the way.

It was a good thing that I didn’t park in the doorway, because a ball came flying past a few minutes later. When the current set ended, there was a short break and I made my way inside to find a better place to park. That’s when I realized I knew others in the gym on other teams.

I chatted a bit with Tom. His team wasn’t playing for two sets, but played after that. I knew Tom when he was single. He’s now married and has an eight-year-old daughter. We caught up and reminisced. Evie was playing on Tom’s team, and her husband, Craig, was on another team in the same gym. I met Craig and Evie when they were dating and I went to their wedding.

The play for the night ended around 9:20pm and we made our way to the parking lot. This time, Rome had me stand, hold onto the fence, and sidestep through the gate. My wheelchair was folded so it would pass thru the gate. It was dark, but we made it.

Ed dropped me off at home around 9:45pm. It was a long day.

1101 some like it hot

After the dim sum, my parents took me back to SBCC. Ed was giving me a ride to Eric and Jennifer’s to wrap and fill shoeboxes for the Operation Christmas Child project that my lifegroup was doing, but we didn’t have to be there until 1:30pm, so we made a short stop at Starbucks for some refreshments. It was a hot day.

Liz knew I was limiting my caloric intake, so she said a frappucino was okay as long as I ordered it “lite” and without whipped cream. I did and it was good!

We made our way to Eric and Jen’s place without incident. I decided to take the wheelchair to avoid the falling incident that happened the last time (see the 8/4/08 post). I ended up twisting my bad knee and it set my therapy back one month because it hurt when I put weight on the leg. I didn’t want to take the risk.

There was food, so I asked Caroline to make me a plate. She put on sushi with a lump of wasabi on a plate, and added some teriyaki chicken. Then she saw some salad, and put that on, but the greens partially covered the other items. When I was given the plate, the food looked good, so I put a forkful of salad in my mouth. The salad was very tasty, so I took another forkful of the salad. What I didn’t know is that I also picked up the lump of wasabi.

As the salad was in my mouth, I remember thinking, “Gee, this dressing is a little grainy.” It wasn’t until after I swallowed that I realized there was wasabi in it. All of my sinuses cleared and I was told that my eyes were watering. I like wasabi, but it just caught me by surprise. Too bad it doesn’t count towards the daily servings of fruits and vegetables that are recommended.

According to Jen, we wrapped and filled 36 shoeboxes. Correction. I should say that Liz, Ginnie, Jennifer and Wendi did the wrapping and I was at the table with Ed, Steph and Caroline, trying to fill the wrapped shoeboxes by age range. That’s when I found out that toothpaste has a warning to “keep out of reach of children under 6 years of age”. Strange, eh?

Eric and Rome kept track of Justin. Or was it the other way around?

We kept at it until Ed had to leave for the Westside Volleyball at West Torrance High.

1101 very sleepy

I went to the first service at SBCC. I got a message from my sister that she was organizing a family gathering for dim sum in Gardena. The dim sum was scheduled for 10:45am, so I told my sister I had three options. I could attend the second service, which starts at 10:00am, and leave early OR I could attend the third service, which starts at 11:30am, and arrive late OR I could attend first service, which starts at 8:30am, and go for the whole thing. So that’s why I went to the first service.

I saw a few friends who asked me if I forgot to change the time on my clocks (daylight savings ended that morning). I should’ve just given them a puzzled look. Oh well, I lost my chance. But I teased Alan, who wore his orange shirt. You see, all of us wore the orange shirt when we volunteered at the Fall Festival last night. I asked him if he didn’t have a chance to go home.

Pastor Gary continued his “Facebook” series. Even though the name is unusual, he’s focusing his messages on answering the question “Who am I?” and talking about how God made each one of us. Today’s installment was “I am necessary” and he mentioned that everyone has a spiritual gift, whether we know of it or not. We might not be conscious of it, but we use it each day. It’s a part of us.

After the service, my parents picked me up on their way to the dim sum. It was at Sea Empress in Pacific Square. It was very good, although we got some items that no one knew what it was.

1031 fall festival

Sam gave me a ride to the Fall Festival at SBCC. The Fall Festival offers an alternative to Halloween trick-or-treating, with fun and games in the worship center and all of the classrooms upstairs. Costumes were not mandatory and a lot of kids came in street clothes.

Since our lifegroup volunteered to help at the Cafe on the patio, I took the wheelchair in order to be mobile, yet keeping my hands free to carry something. As a result, I was given a tray of pastries. Unfortunately, there were five others with similar trays. Fortunately, my tray was in my lap and at eye-level of the kids.

There were four card tables set-up with chairs. At one point, when it got slow, some of our group members were sitting at two of the tables.

1031 hard-of-hearing

Koinonia got together at Sheri’s house to celebrate Stephanie’s leaving to lead her own lifegroup. The fare was pizza and pasta, and entertainment was provided by Sam, Ed, Caleb (Sheri’s son), and Mo (Sheri’s husband) on “Rock Band” instruments. For those of us in the dining room, it was more like “Name That Tune”. There were a few songs where we were stumped, as the lyrics weren’t making any sense.

It was nice to see everyone outside of church and the lifegroup meeting.

1029 therapy

Christina told me that she was going to be a “hippie” for Halloween. I gave her a couple of suggestions. We’ll find out how she did next week.

One exercise focused on lifting the right foot onto a wooden box, a couple of inches high. We used a raised table as a support, but I concentrated on putting my weight on my left leg.

1027 jellyfish

Calvin told me about a Halloween Party he was going to. All of the invitees were given “fins” and instructed to come as a type of fish. But the “type” was up to each person as well as how they conveyed the idea.

One guy was going as a clownfish, so the costume was a clown outfit with the “fin” on the back. Get it? I think it’s an interesting idea.

Calvin decided to go as a “jellyfish”, so his costume was going to be a jar of Smucker’s. I told him that if he wanted to be different, make it a jar of Vaseline. Petroleum jelly. Get it? I also had a wild idea of a tube of K-Y jelly, but we’ll see.

I would’ve worn it when I was in college. That was when I wore a bed sheet as a toga. I’m just glad that no pictures exist that I know of.

Our exercises involve walking with the sticks and seeing if we can beat the timer on the door-opener mechanism.

1022 takin' leave

I went to Cal State Long Beach for my therapy session. I was met by Christina and Calvin, and was told that it was time for the mid-semester evaluations.

Time was spent on measuring my limbs and muscles to see how much I’ve improved. I found my limbs lifted and stretched, while I laid on my back, on my side, on my stomach, and sitting up.

I was thinking ... if there was ever a good time for an “out-of-body” experience, this was it.

I could’ve gone to Starbucks and left my body there.

1021 deadly leather

I was watching a DVD from the second season of “Stargate: Atlantis” and listening to a commentary on one of the episodes. The director was commenting on a scene showing a confrontation. On one side was one of the series’ regulars, flanked by three armed marines. On the other side was the leader of a planet and behind him were three security officers.

The director said, “The prop department goofed. They issued holsters to the security officers but forgot to put guns in the holsters.”

Fortunately, the situation was able to be resolved. Otherwise, the security officers would have had to threaten to throw their leather holsters. That would have left a mark.

1021 deadly leather

I was watching a DVD from the second season of “Stargate: Atlantis” and listening to a commentary on one of the episodes. The director was commenting on a scene showing a confrontation. On one side was one of the series’ regulars, flanked by three armed marines. On the other side was the leader of a planet and behind him were three security officers.

The director said, “The prop department goofed. They issued holsters to the security officers but forgot to put guns in the holsters.”

Fortunately, the situation was able to be resolved. Otherwise, the security officers would have had to threaten to throw their leather holsters. That would have left a mark.

1019 wraiths

I was watching a DVD from the first season of “Stargate: Atlantis” and listening to a commentary while watching an episode. The commentary was voiced by the episode director and one of the series’ regulars.

The director was talking about the Wraiths, the “villains” of the series. The Wraith hierarchy consists of a queen at the top, drones at the bottom, and workers in the middle. Much like ants or bees (the colony ships are called “hives”), the workers and drones are male. The drones are large and muscular (imagine guys as big as NFL linebackers, but without shoulder pads) but have no facial features to differentiate them.

The “workers” however, are about six feet two, muscular and trim, with faces that express emotions and intent. The director mentioned that the creators wanted them to be similar, so that they would appear the same throughout the race. The director mentioned that it was thought to be a casting nightmare, since the part would require supporting actors that matched a specific set of criteria.

Then someone realized that the “worker” in each episode was “killed off”, so it was possible to re-cast the same actor but make small changes in the facial make-up. And so it was done that way.

The series’ regular commented that he thought it was a different person each time, because he didn’t get a chance to see him until after the make-up was finished, so each week, when they started taping a new episode, he made it a point to introduce himself. It was at a party halfway through the season that he met the actor who played all of the parts and was told by the supporting actor that the situation was quite amusing.

On a side note, the “workers” didn’t have names, so for ease, the cast and crew gave them “names” such as “Bob”, “Lenny” or “Steve”. It was easier than saying, “Hey you, stand at this mark and face the camera!”

1016 maggie who?

Jim Y was unable to make it on Saturday, so we went walking today. He picked me up at the usual time and we headed for Liberty Park in Cerritos.

The route we picked for today included a short descent and a long incline. I was tempted to lean back during the incline and if Jim wasn’t there, I know I would have fallen down several times.

After the exercise, we had lunch at Red Robin. While we were unloading at my house, we talked about a mutual friend who is pregnant with her third child. Jim said that he was done, “unless Maggie O asked him to.”

I told him that I knew of Maggie Q (see my post on 1/10/08), but I didn’t know who “Maggie O” was.

1014 shadows

I was watching a first season episode of “Stargate: Atlantis” and listened to the commentary the second time around. The director was commenting on how scenes were shot and some things to look for.

The episode was about a giant storm and one scene was shot in a forest. The director mentioned that it was a sunny day when they shot, but special effects used computer graphics to make it appear that there was a storm brewing, with overcast skies and drops of water. The problem was that they forgot to remove the shadows that each of the actors cast.

Sure enough, they were there, but you had to be looking for them.

1009 wardrobe

I was watching a sci-fi television show and was listening to the commentary. It featured the voices of two directors. One had shot the episode; the other was his friend, who had shot a previous episode.

One scene was in a room and featured two actors, one male and one female. Both were young and very attractive. The director of the episode told the other director that he wasn’t able to cover the back wall.

Sure enough, when you ignore the dialog and focus on the back wall, you can see that it was part of another set. The other director asked why.

The first director mentioned that it was too costly and covering the wall would have put him way over budget. The second director asked him how he handled it.

The first director replied, “Misdirection.”

The second director said, “Misdirection? How?”

The first director said, “I told wardrobe to make the actors wear one size smaller. THAT, I could afford.”

When I saw the scene, I wasn’t thinking that I’d seen that wall someplace else. I was thinking that the female’s outfit was so snug I could hardly breathe.

0925 lobster

I went to the Redondo Beach Lobster Festival, held at Seaside Lagoon. Ching picked me up and off we went. I ordered online, so I saved a few dollars. The package included admission, t-shirts, and the sensational lobster dinner.

After entering the Festival and getting our t-shirts, Ching and I headed for the lobster. The steamer was so big, it required a trailer of its own.

The dinners were at one tent and “shell-crackers” at another. We had a “pro” shell the lobsters for us before we found a table.

It was very good and very filling. After the dinner, we just strolled thru the booths and listened to a live band at the stage.

A little while later, we headed out, but went past the car for some munchies at Ruby’s Diner, which shared the same parking lot. There, we shared a basket of garlic fries and a banana split. The saltiness of the fries offset the sweetness of the banana split. Mmmmm.

0924 stretch

Today was therapy with Christina. She had me walk to a table without my walker by putting my hands on her shoulders while she sat on a rolling stool. She said that I was putting weight to my feet because she hardly felt any pressure from my hands to her shoulders. She said that it was good that I was only using my hands for balance.

She also gave me a few exercises to work on at home, including Achilles’ stretches and using a bar to keep my forearms raised while rotating my shoulders.

0922 therapy

I met with Calvin for my therapy session. We spent part of the time with evaluations of my balance, followed by exercises that pushed the right knee and right fingers. It was interesting to see how far I’ve come.

0920 pasta, pasta, pasta

I spent the day with Ching. The original plan included a movie after lunch, but we were so engrossed in talking that we lost track of time and missed the movie’s start time. What makes it bad is that we also missed the second start time at a different theater (it was our “Plan B”).

Lunch was at Olive Garden and the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl (probably a contributing factor in missing the movie). I really like Angel Hair pasta and they had a great Roasted Portobello Pomodoro sauce. Mmmmm.

It was during the entree that we checked the time. The first showtime had already passed and it was just five minutes before the second showtime. Even with all the previews, we would have never made it. So we just kept eating and talking. Correction. Ching was talking; I was listening.

After lunch, we adjourned to Red Robin to continue our discussion. It was cooler there but we both ordered milkshakes, and munched on tortilla chips with a con queso dip. The saltiness of the tortilla chips offset the sweetness of the milkshakes (I wish the calories would be offset, too). At one point, because the shake was so thick, I lifted the glass in order to drink it without the straw. But it wouldn’t come out.

Now, any sane person would have used a spoon in order to scoop out the frosty chunks. Not me. Instead, I tilted the glass higher. Suddenly, the mass that was in the bottom of the glass slid down as one piece. My mouth wasn’t big enough to consume all of it, so some ended up on my upper lip.

As I picked up a napkin to wipe my face, I saw a flash. Ching had taken a picture. So that explains the photo.

There was a drawing and some crayons at the table, so Ching started coloring. She asked me how she did. I told her that since the lines were red and she was using a red crayon, I couldn’t tell.

0919 jonathan sperry

After service, on the first and third Saturdays, I usually meet with my Bible study group (we're studying Isaiah now). We met, but instead of the study, we went as a group to see “The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry”, which was showing at the AMC Theatres in Rolling Hills Plaza. It’s a film about Christian values featuring Gavin MacLeod (Captain Stubing on “Love Boat”), Robert Guillaume (“Benson”), and Jansen Panettiere (the voice of the Shovelmouth Boy in “Ice Age 2” and Hayden’s younger brother).

The film was being promoted by my church, as one of the members had made a contribution to have it shown at the theatre for one weekend. Whether or not the theatre would play it for another week would depend on the amount it made at the box office this weekend.

Although the theatre was small, it was good to see that it was more than half-full. The movie was entertaining and there were plenty of humorous moments when the early-teen kids were interacting. You know, when a young boy likes a young girl and can’t seem to find the right way to tell her that .... now why does that sound so familiar?

Afterwards, we decided to grab a bite at the Norm’s Restaurant on Pacific Coast Highway, which was close to the theatre. We ran into others from our church and ate together. It was a lot of fun!

0919 weight shift

Jim Y and I went for our “walk” at Liberty Park. Actually, he walked and I tried to do the same with the walking sticks. Christina wants me to shift my weight over my right leg as I move the left leg, so we worked on that for awhile.

Afterwards, we had lunch at the nearby Subway.

0917 snow on the roof

After the therapy session, my father and I stopped by Jack in the Box to pick up something for lunch, since it about an hour away (lunch was an hour away, not Jack in the Box). After ordering, the voice said to pull up to the window for the total.

As we pulled up, the girl at the window was about to give us the total when she looked up and said, “One sec. There’s a senior discount.” She pushed some buttons, then gave my father a total. He paid her and she handed him the receipt with his change.

While he was putting away his change, I looked at the receipt and saw the senior discount on there twice. I asked her what the second one was for. She said, ”For you.”

I wonder if they’ll ask me for my I.D. at Denny’s.

0917 therapy

This morning, I met Christina for therapy at Cal State Long Beach. She gave me a bunch of exercises to work on, including finger stretches, weight shifting, and posture improvement. We walked the hallway, using my walking sticks, and she gave me stuff to work on and think about, so that I could increase my speed.

0913 taking a dip

In the afternoon, my church was having its Annual Baptism Celebration at Seaside Lagoon in Redondo Beach. Ed was able to give me a ride from SBCC to the Lagoon, as he wasn’t able to make it to Las Vegas for the Chinchilla Day party.

After picking up Brian, Ed drove to find a Popeye’s Fried Chicken location, based on Brian’s directions. We finally made it, after driving thru a strip mall and not finding one. It was just something for the two of them to take to the potluck, since I made other plans with someone else.

Once we had the chicken, we picked up Sunny and headed off towards the Lagoon. The parking lot was half-empty, but the handicapped spaces were full, so we parked a few aisles away and made our way to the gate.

After going through the entrance, we found the church group in a private party area. Canopies were set up in the area, but one was completely empty, although there were people sitting in the sun around it. We soon found out why. When the wind picked up, the shaded areas were chilly.

The potluck lunch began soon afterwards, followed by Legacy worship, and then a couple of dances by the Hula Team. Joey, our worship leader, led the gathering in a few songs to get them on their feet, which was a good preventative for after-lunch naps.

The baptism candidates were given time on the microphone to tell their stories of what led them to God. There were thirteen of them. When the last of them spoke, the group moved en masse to the water’s edge. There, in the water of the Lagoon, they were each immersed by Pastor Gary.

Soon after that, the group broke up and made their way to the parking lot.

0912 Saturday in the Park

I went walking with Jim Y again today. Liberty Park was very busy, so we had to park on the west side of the track. It was a little different, but just as challenging.

We walked along a sidewalk and I overheard some conversations by others sitting on the grass. Relax, they were talking about me. At one point, I almost turned to a lady to ask her to whisper louder.

We finished up and had lunch at a nearby Subway.

0910 therapy again (so to speak)

Today was my first day as a “patient” for the physical therapy students at Cal State Long Beach for the spring semester (see the posts for 3/10/09 and 2/12/08). The students assigned to me (actually, I’m assigned to them) are Christina and Calvin. I’ll be meeting with Christina on Thursdays and Calvin on Tuesdays, but I’ll see both of them now for evaluations and again at the end of the program to see how much progress I’ve made.

0906 tomb raider

Okay, I know it’s an “old” movie, but I watched “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” (2001) and listened to the commentary by the director. I found out that the leads had to deliver their lines in accents foreign to themselves. Angelina Jolie and Jon Voight were American actors playing English characters. Iain Glen was Scottish, but playing English. And Daniel Craig was English, but playing American.

The director also commented that camera angles on Angelina had to be done in a way that obscured her many tattoos. In one shower scene, graphic artists had to go frame-by-frame in post-production and paint over tattoos so they wouldn’t show.

The game designers of “Tomb Raider” were interviewed and mentioned that the game was originally designed with a male character. But this was right at the same time that “Indiana Jones” was popular, so they were looking for something different, because someone else had come out with an “Indiana Jones” video game. So they changed the character into a female ... curvy to attract the men, but type-A to attract the women (many women wanted to be like her).

I remember when the game came out. It caused quite a stir. Video game magazines were inundated with requests for photo layouts ... of a fictional character who was only seen as a graphic image. Months after the video game release were articles that said although “Lara’s” wardrobe could not be changed, the color of her outfits could. Many gamers admitted to changing the color of her clothes to match her skin tone. That way, she appeared naked.

Nowadays, anything is possible.

0902 psalms

Mike stopped by as we are starting a new Bible study of the Book of Psalms. Mike came up with the idea, since he wanted to study the book, but felt inundated with evening studies and lifegroups. He thought about studying it during the day, since his daytime hours are spent at the house. Then he thought of me, since my daytime hours are spent at my house. So he’s coming over every Wednesday morning (with a few exceptions) for our study, then we’ll go someplace for lunch.

We looked at a few study guides, and chose one by Kay Arthur and Pete DeLacy, titled “Praising God Through Prayer And Worship”. We’ll be starting off this week and our first official meeting will be next Wednesday.

0831 blowin' in the wind

My mother saw an ad for a leaf blower in the newspaper, so she told my father, “I see the store has a special on leaf blowers so why don’t you go and pick one up? Using a leaf blower will be easier than sweeping the leaves in the driveway!”

Sounds about right? Get an image in your mind? Good. Now substitute “leaf blower” with “blow dryer” and you’ll see what my mother actually said. Funny thing is, she knows what she said.

My father went to get the leaf blower, but put the ad in his pocket. He looked at me and said, “In case I ask for the wrong thing.”

0826 the president's plane

One of the movies I just saw again was “Air Force One” from 1997 with Harrison Ford. I listened to the commentary by director Wolfgang Peterson. He wanted authenticity so all the Russians were played by Eastern European actors ... except the guy playing the Russian president. He was an American actor, who had to learn Russian to speak the lines convincingly.

In the beginning sequence, a team of commandoes parachutes onto a rooftop in Kazakhstan. The scene and the surrounding area look real. It is. But the location is in Ohio.

0826 what's in a name?

One more thing about Bobby Darin. He was born Walden Robert Cassotto, but came up with the stage name when he saw a “MANDARIN” neon sign at a Chinese restaurant, with the “M-A-N” burned out. Interesting.

Reminds me of seeing a “BLACK ANGUS” sign with the “G” burned out. That was about twenty years ago.

0825 beyond the sea

A friend borrowed some DVDs and returned them a couple of days ago. One of them was “Beyond The Sea”, a 2004 biopic of the life of Bobby Darin, played by Kevin Spacey. Spacey also directed the film.

It had been a few years since I last saw it, so I watched it again, with the commentary turned on. Although the film was set in locations like Brooklyn (New York), Hollywood (California), and Las Vegas (Nevada), it was shot entirely in Berlin, Germany.

One of the comments said that because the film dealt with Darin’s film career in the 1950s, soundstages were needed that fit the period. Hollywood soundstages could’ve been used, but they’ve been renovated so much that the cost to redress them was exorbitant. But the soundstages in Berlin were built in the 1940s and haven’t changed since.

As for other locations, many American architectural features had European origins. So it was easy to make use of many sites in Berlin. There’s a scene that supposedly takes place in Darin’s backyard, complete with a pool. That location is the Jordanian embassy in Berlin.

The outdoors scenes looked like a nice summer day. But the film was made in January. It’s really cold in Berlin in January. One scene had a rowboat in a lake. The commentary said that they had to break apart the ice before shooting.

There’s also a part of the film that looks like it was shot on the California coast, presumably Big Sur. The commentary said that it was actually Great Britain.

In preparing for the film, the producers did a lot of research. One day, they met an avid fan of Bobby Darin. She collected his records and other memorabilia. She was thrilled that a movie was being made of Darin’s life.

The producers asked if it was appropriate that Darin was being portrayed by Kevin Spacey. She responded, “Kevin who?”

0819 a question

My lifegroup is reading the “One Year Bible”, in addition to our regular study. It divides the Bible into easy-to-read chunks, so that you can finish the whole Bible in just one calendar year. Each “day” has verses from the Old Testament, the New Testament, Psalm, and Proverbs.

The reading for Saturday, August 15th, was interesting and motivated me to read all of I Corinthians 9. I understand that one of the reasons for Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth was to instruct and restore the church in its areas of weakness.

The reading included I Corinthians 9:19-23, which I include here: “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”

My question is .... as long as Christ’s teachings are followed, does the end justify the means? Comments are welcomed.

0813 sounds like ...

I was watching a sci-fi movie on DVD. It was about space vampires that fed on humans. While listening to the director’s commentary, the scene involved a human marine confronting one of the vampire leaders. The director mentioned that the actor playing the vampire had to wear a mouth appliance that featured pointed teeth. But the appliance interfered with the actor speaking his lines.

The director mentioned that the “fear” in the face of the actor playing the marine was actually concentration not to laugh, because the “vampire” sounded like Elmer Fudd. The dialogue had to be dubbed in afterwards.

Can you keep a straight face when the villain says, “My army will destwoy you”?

0809 food

Koinonia met for lunch at Heung Nam Myun OK in Torrance. I didn’t know what anything was, so it was good that Ed sat next to me and gave me tips on what to order.

The conversation was as good as the food and it was good to get together with the group at a place away from church.

0805 getting greased

One of the advantages of using Netflix is watching television episodes consecutively, instead of waiting a week to see how a cliffhanger was resolved. One of the series I’m watching now is the third season of Battlestar Galactica (which ran on the Sci-Fi channel). During a commentary by a producer, his wife would chime in with a question about what was being watched.

In one scene, seven actors were working in a building on a planet. All of them were wearing the same outfits: long pants and sleeveless shirts. Two of the male leads were talking in the foreground, their arms were glistening with sweat, showing off their muscles.

The wife asked, “Why are they sweating?” The producer answered that the building, although shaded from the sun, had less circulation than being outside. Plausible.

Then a female from the background moved forward to interact with the two males. The wife asked, “So why isn’t she sweating?” Sure enough, the female’s pale arms were dry.

The wife continued, “It looks like the men’s arms are oiled. Trying to appeal to female viewers, eh?”

The producer was speechless.

0801 dragon stuff

Ching picked me up around noon and then picked up her cousin, Anthony, and his wife, Remi. We then headed to the Dragonboat Festival, which was being held in the Long Beach Marine Stadium.

Getting there called for some creative navigation, as there was congestion and blockages on some of the local freeways. Let me put it this way ... I live in Long Beach and so does Ching’s cousin, but we passed by Cerritos College on the way.

When I was growing up, my parents would take me to the Marine Stadium to see drag racing boats. Later, in the 90s, I would kayak through the local waterways and watch dragonboat crews and outrigger crews doing exercises and practice paddles.

After parking the car, we made our way towards the southern end, where there were seating and concessions. It was interesting to watch the races, as five or six dragonboats were in each heat.

You could tell which were the experienced crews, the way all of the paddles hit the water at the same time. There was a pacesetter at the front of each boat (not the bow, but about six feet from the bow), marking a cadence with beats on a drum. The inexperienced crews were like watching a caterpillar walk.

We stayed for a few hours. The races were fun, but the conversation was very enjoyable. I found someone else who had “Ching” stories to tell and share. The food was good, too. Ching and I shared some lobster balls. Don’t ask.

After a sort pit stop at home, Ching gave me a ride to SBCC.

0727 wedgie

I was watching a commentary of a comedy on DVD, when it spoke of a montage of scenes that represented some high school experiences. One scene showed a “nerd” being tackled by a “jock” and then being given a “wedgie” by the “jock”. The commentary said that the actor playing the “nerd” was given special underwear that would break-away, no matter how hard the “jock” pulled on it. That made it possible to exaggerate the action without causing any harm. However, in one take, the special underwear failed, and the actor playing the “nerd” received a real “wedgie”.

0726 time will tell

I had a friend tell me not to take the “Star Trek” movie so seriously (see my 7/20/09 post), and to look at it as a deviation of space/time. What happened in the “old” history still happened, but events in the movie will create changes in what is to come.

Hmmm. Maybe Nero put some things in motion that could eventually result in his demise. A lot of things happened between the Romulans and the Federation, so anything’s possible.

I wonder what would’ve happened if the Enterprise-C didn’t go back in time to defend the Romulan outpost on Narendra Three ....

0725 angels & demons

Kevin and Susan picked me up in the afternoon. We went to the Regency Redondo 3 Theatres, where they were still showing “Angels & Demons”, and after dropping Susan off at home, we met with Leslie and Jamie (her houseguest) to see the movie.

The movie was good, but some things were changed (of course!) compared to the book, which I first read about four years ago. The story was the same, and the changes told the story a bit more creatively.

The theatre was a bit warm, although someone thought it would get cooler once the movie started. Kevin suggested that it was like a jetliner; warm until the plane takes off.

After the movie, we went to Marie Callender’s for some dinner. Susan and Santi joined us for the dinner. I had the Double Shrimp Pasta and it was very delicious!!

0724 too much butter

Ching came by this evening and we went off to the Edwards Theatre in Long Beach Town Center to see “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”. After getting the tickets, we stopped at the refreshment stand for some munches. Ching got the nachos; I got a bag of popcorn, which I had Ching grease with a liberal amount of “butter”. Then we headed for our seats.

We talked a bit while waiting for the film to start. Ching and I have a prearranged signal where I touch the tip of my nose with my forefinger, to indicate that I’m not finished talking (since she often asks questions as I’m taking a breath). This time was no exception, so I performed the signal. That’s when I realized that my popcorn was covered in “butter”, and now my nose was, too.

The movie was good, but kinda dark (the plot was dark). As Harry was slowly walking through a darkened hallway, I heard a crunching sound. Every time that Harry took a step, I heard a crunch. It took me a few moments to realize that the sound wasn’t coming from the movie. That’s when I turned to my left and saw Ching eating her nachos.

As the movie was nearing the end, Ching remarked, “This movie was really long. It’s just past two hours.” I replied that she must have not read my emails, since I clearly recall writing that the film was two hours, thirty-three minutes.

After the movie, we shared a “banana split” at Denney’s. I put the quotes up because she likes to substitute (see the post on 10/19/2008 for details). This time was no exception.

She dropped me off at home after we finished chatting. It was lots of fun!

Thanks, Ching!

0722 cool lunch

Ken came by today. Several years ago, he moved up to Fresno, but comes back to L.A. regularly to see the Dodgers play. Today was one of those days.

After chatting a bit and catching up, we went for lunch at the Elephant Bar in Lakewood Center. It was a hot day so we both cooled down with Strawberry Lemonades. Ohhhh yeahhhh! It was good!

We both ordered salads, since eating hot food on a hot day wasn’t appealing. We also had sides of Sweet Potato Fries. I wish more places had them. They were good.

Thanks Ken!

0720 where no one has gone before

Liz and Rome came by to pick me up to see a showing of “Star Trek” in a theatre. The movie’s been out for two months, but if you haven’t seen it and still want to be surprised, read something else. I’m gonna talk about what I saw.

The movie was showing at only a handful of theatres, but I found it at the AMC in the Marina Pacifica Mall in Long Beach. I have to say that, since a friend thought Marina Pacifica was in West Los Angeles.

After getting the tickets, we got some popcorn, soda, and candy. As I was stocking-up on Milk Duds, Liz asked, “Aren’t you restricted from eating chocolate?” I assured her that the restriction was lifted in 2007, but I hadn’t thought much about it. It was restricted not for nutritional reasons, but because chocolate causes saliva to form and at the time I was having problems with swallowing. A build-up of saliva used to cause me to choke. Fortunately, I overcame that. “Fortunately” because I am a chocoholic.

The movie was filled with action, but the director had changed some of the details. In the movie, Jim Kirk was an only child and his father died when he was born. In the series, Jim Kirk had an older brother and his father lived during his childhood years. In the movie, Spock’s mom was killed when the planet Vulcan was destroyed. In the series, Spock’s mom dies of natural causes at an old age and the planet Vulcan was never destroyed. And in the movie, there were scenes that suggested that the U.S.S. Enterprise (NCC-1701) was Dreadnought-class, not Constitution-class, because of a third warp nacelle.

I know that there’s a sequel in the works, but I wonder if this “new” history will supplant the “old” one. The one that was the basis of five series (I don’t count “Star Trek: Enterprise” because that took place earlier in the timeline) and ten movies. I know that it directly affected episodes in The Original Series, The Animated Series, and The Next Generation. I’ll have to think about Deep Space Nine and Voyager.

There are other details that changed, like knowledge of the Romulan-Vulcan connection, Sulu’s first assignment on the Enterprise was in Botany, and that Pike was an admiral at the end (in the series, he retired as a commodore; he never made admiral). I guess I’ll have to wait and see the sequel.

One nice thing about remaking it now. A Russian actor (Anton Yelchin) played Chekov and a British actor (Simon Pegg) played Scott, so accents were relatively accurate. However, when Anton saw tapes of Chekov from The Original Series, he said, “Real Russians don’t talk like that.” So he had to learn to talk like Chekov.

After the movie, we had dinner at the Acapulco Restaurant. Rome and I had Mango Mojitos, while Liz had a Margarita.

Dinner was good, but so was the stroll along the water afterwards. We parked by the theatre, which was on the other end of the parking lot. So we “walked” dinner off and looked at boats in the marina.

Rome was driving and he said, “We’re taking you home, but we’re not going straight home!” They treated me to a driving tour of Second Street, Ocean Avenue, and Shoreline Drive, before heading home on the 710 freeway. Some things have changed, but other things have stayed the same.

It was a lot of fun, and seeing a movie in an air-conditioned theatre on a hot day was a good idea. Rome and Liz, thanks a bunch!

0718 starting Isaiah

After the service, our bible study group met as we began our journey into Isaiah. There was Mike, Carol, Judy, Lillian, Gary, Kiyomi, John, and myself. We were joined by Lance, a new addition to our group.

We were talking about how it took three years to cover Revelation’s 22 chapters. Isaiah, with 66 chapters, will be challenging. Carol was the designated facilitator, but Mike kept things running. I tried (unsuccessfully) to put Mike as the facilitator, thus skipping over Judy, John, and myself, in the set order.

No one bought it, so I’ll be facilitating our next meeting. Wish me luck.

0718 honk if you love Jesus

Pastor Ken continued his “What The World Desperately Needs” series with this weekend’s episode of “Live The Life”. He talked about how many of us wear our Christianity, but sometimes we don’t always practice it. The unfortunate occurrence is when we do something “un-Christian” while wearing something that identifies us as a Christian. If a non-Christian sees us, then we are passing along a message that is wrong or confusing.

As he was closing, Ken talked about Joey, our worship leader. Joey has been undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer. This past week, Joey received some good news. The cancer has disappeared. But Joey’s white blood cell count is zero, so he has no immunities. He’s not out of the woods yet. But he’s headed in the right direction.

0717 filling up

John M came by and picked me up for a group dinner. The group is loosely associated and has the moniker of “Eater’s Ink”. The premise is that we’d come up with some sort of criteria to seek nominations, vote on the nominations, meet and eat, and then write up reviews based on our experiences.

Tonight’s selection was Ford’s Filling Station in Culver City. When John and I arrived, we met up with Akiko, Linda, Cheryl and Walt. A few minutes later, Dawn arrived and the group was complete.

The menu was interesting. One of the items was “Kobe Beef Cheeks”, which prompted questions about which cheeks were being referred to. Then we saw a list of the Nightly Specials, and an item on that list was for “Halibut Cheeks”. Now we were really confused. A helpful server assisted us and alleviated some of the confusion.

There were enough of us that we ordered a selection of what was on the menu, in order to get a spectrum of tastes.

Cheryl was picking a guy up at LAX later. One of the appetizers was fried clam, served on a bed of shoestring fries. As Cheryl moved a piece of clam toward her mouth, a fry was along for the ride, but dropped down the front of her blouse at the last second. We were wondering if her friend would find it. As luck would have it, she found it before she left the restaurant.

Dessert was especially adventuresome. One of the items was a pineapple cake with honey vanilla ice cream. A torte had peanut butter ice cream, topped with candied bacon. What did we do? We ordered both, of course.

The criteria for the next meeting has been set. We need to nominate restaurants that serve cuisine of countries whose name contains the letter “P”. The last thing we did at the table was brainstorming countries.

0711 directory assistance

I was watching a DVD today (I won’t mention the name of the movie) and listened to the director’s comments. A character was ad-libbing when the director said to listen to the line.

The character said, “So this girl called me and asked me for my number.”

0708 all for one

My mind wanders while I’m doing exercises. I’ve been thinking of “The Three Musketeers”, but I can’t seem to name all three. I remember Porthos and Aramis, but I can’t seem to recall the third one. I know that they were joined by D’Artagnan, but I can’t remember the other one’s name. I guess I’ll have to Google it.

0705 rock on!

Since it was a holiday weekend and since our lifegroup had just completed the group study in the “40 Days of Love”, Koinonia met at Sam’s for a potluck lunch.

Sherilyn gave me a lift after the second service at SBCC and we arrived at Sam’s shortly afterwards. Getting around wasn’t difficult, since the flooring was common for all the rooms that we were in (I guess you figured I was using the walker).

Some of the group was playing a modified version of “Spoons”, using cards and forks while sitting around a table. Ed brought out his “Rock Band” video game, complete with two guitars, a drum set (four pads and a foot controller), and a microphone. Everyone took turns using the different instruments. I still don’t have full use of my right hand so I opted out. But the left hand was still capable of holding my camera, set on video mode.

The lunch was great! There was quite an assortment to choose from, and it was all good. Sheri brought a birthday cake to celebrate the three birthdays that were close to today (Steph, Eric and Sam). Although Eric was spending the day at "the Happiest Place on Earth" (hint: it wasn't Fry's).

Ed gave me a ride home because Sheri had to leave early. It was lots of fun!

0622 year one

John M came by and we went out to see a movie. I was talking about getting a bite at the Red Robin at the Cerritos Mall. He indicated that he was quite familiar with it because it was one of the places that he and Akiko (his wife) met while they were dating. You see, Akiko lived in Los Angeles, John lived in Orange County, and Cerritos was kinda halfway.

After consuming a Royal Burger (you know, the one with the fried egg) and Bottomless Fries, we headed to the UA Galaxy Theatre in the mall.

We were hoping to catch either “Angels & Demons” or “Up”, but we were too late. We missed both movies, so we saw “Year One” with Jack Black and Michael Cera. It was very entertaining, but I know a few people who would be offended by it.