0331 omega-3

Last week, I went to Target in search of chewable Vitamin C tablets. What I found were “Gummy Vitamins for Adults”. There were several types, so I bought a bottle of each of the Vitamin C and the Omega-3.

The label on the Omega-3 reads “This product contains natural colors and flavors. Contains no wheat (gluten), milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts or shellfish. Does contain fish (anchovy, sardine, mackerel, tuna) and soy.” The label also indicates that the flavors are “lemon, berry & cherry”.

I tried one. It didn’t taste like lemon, berry or cherry. Now I wonder about the “natural flavors” and “contains fish”.

I found the chewable vitamins at Walmart.

0330 bap

A few days ago, a friend and I were “conversing” in an instant message. The conversation wandered, but at one time my friend typed about a “bap of sunflower seeds”. I knew the reference was a “bag” and a correction came through a moment later. But that didn’t stop me from thinking about it. You see, a “bap” is a Scottish term for “bread roll”.

The last time I heard it was about six years ago, but the first time was several decades ago (okay, three decades). It was in college, and it was accidental. In fact, if I didn’t ask, I never would have thought about it.

I was in a cafeteria with a group of friends, when another group approached and asked if they could join us. We were seated at a large round table and there were enough chairs, so we said it was okay.

A few minutes later, one of the girls in the other group (I didn’t know her; she was a friend of a friend) asked me, “Are you going to eat that bap?” Bewildered, I asked for clarification. She pointed at an untouched dinner roll on my tray. I shrugged and told her to help herself. As she was eating it, I asked her why she called it a “bap”.

She said, “Sorry about that. My grandmother used to call it that and I guess I picked it up. She was Scottish.” And that’s how I came to know the word. Otherwise, I’d be totally oblivious.

Yeah, I know. Hard to believe that a dinner roll would be untouched on my tray.

0328 avatar

About six weeks ago, Brian asked me if I saw “Avatar”. I told him that I hadn’t, but would catch it on DVD. He indicated that with the sound and special effects, it would be best to see it in a theater while it was still out. A scan of movie listings showed that it was still out in several theaters.

A couple of weeks later, the studio announced that the movie would be released on DVD in mid-April, but it would not contain the 3-D version. So we added that criteria to our search.

Conflicting schedules prevented us from meeting, but we finally saw it today. Brian picked me up at SBCC and we headed over to the Bridge Cinemas at the Howard Hughes Center. After getting our tickets and 3-D glasses, and a mandatory bag of popcorn (I always have to have movie theater popcorn), we found our seats in Auditorium 8.

The movie was good and I enjoyed the 3-D effects. I’m glad that we were able to see it.

A couple of things from the movie. I saw the substance “unobtainium” in another movie. “The Core” (2003) with Aaron Eckhart. And Grace’s line “Don’t shoot. You’ll only make it angry.” I heard that line spoken in “Blazing Saddles” (1974) with Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder.

After the movie, we stopped at Quizno’s in Gardena and we each had the Raspberry Chipotle Chicken salad. Mmmm. They were good.

0327 bible study

My Bible Study group usually meets on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of every month. But because of a membership meeting (3/20) and Easter weekend (4/3), we were going to have six weeks between studies. One of our members, Gary H, indicated that six weeks was too long of an interval between studies and he argued for an interim study to keep current. So we scheduled an interim study for tonight. Everyone was present. Except Gary H.

0327 sun chips

Jim Y and I did our walking exercise at Liberty Park in Cerritos. For lunch, we went to Subway. I had a sandwich combo, which included a bag of chips. I settled on Sun Chips. The back of the bag had a bunch of ideas for finding “green” alternatives in everyday life. There was a quote from Stacey in Richardson, Texas, that read “I use re-useable bags when I go grocery shopping,” There was a picture to go along with the quote. In my opinion, Stacey should have shaved before the photo was taken.

0326 new place

Sunny moved into a new place and had a small, informal get-together of friends (Ed, Brian, Kevin, and Jerome were the others). Liz was able to pick me up, but navigating the front path was a challenge. The first was a set of 2-3 steps from the sidewalk without a handrail. Note to self: Going up was easier than going down.

The next set of steps (3-4) had a handrail, but was still a challenge since the pads were short. I made it through the front door, and then saw the final challenge: A stairway to a level that had the kitchen and dining area (the level inside the front door had the front room).

I started up the stairway the same way I go up the stairs at church, but soon found out that the stairway was narrower as the walker was hitting my left leg (I usually turn the walker sideways and grab the grips with my left hand for support). I developed a rhythm and made my way to the top.

As an early arrival, I was put to work helping to put together the appetizers. It was just bacon-wrapped dates and stuffed mushroom caps, but there were a lot of them. Mmmmm. They were good (cooked, of course).

Liz contributed a pear salad with candied walnuts and gorgonzola cheese.

The main dish was lasagna, served with toasted bread. I had brought some Italian wine and suggested that a bottle be opened. One of the guys was spending several minutes with a corkscrew before it was pointed out that the metal top had to be unscrewed by hand (many European wines are switching over to screws from corks because they are cost-effective, degrade less, and provide a better seal). Yeah, reminds me of the joke about walruses and Tupperware.

The lasagna was delicious. You could tell that it was made from scratch because the ricotta cheese was fresh and full of flavor. The salad was made

After dinner, we played three rounds of Sequence and several hands of cards. Our hostess had some cheesecake, and I brought some pastries from Giuliano’s. Hey, it’s okay if I bring ‘em as long as I don’t eat ‘em. I also brought a bottle of Moscato, which was kept chilled in the refrigerator. As a dessert wine, it was very good.

0323 never mind, russ meyer

I was watching the KTLA News this afternoon and one of the filler stories was about the planned production of the new “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie, featuring Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz. There is a casting call for women, who will be in the background or have minor roles. Among the casting requirements are height, skin tone, talent, and a comment that reads “real breasts”. Apparently, Disney doesn’t want to see implants on the big screen.

The female anchor commented, “What I want to know is ‘Who is doing the testing?’”. The male anchor replied, “I don’t know, but I’d like to see the job description on that one.”

0323 sign of the times

The front page of the Los Angeles Times had several articles about the Healthcare legislation just passed by Congress. They also had this photo with the caption “IN MICHIGAN: Glenn Clark and other demonstrators gather together to endorse a ballot initiative, introduced in the Legislature, that’s designed to exempt Michigan from new federal healthcare requirements.”

Either that caption is a misprint OR the “NO” sign he’s holding is about the Healthcare legislation, and thus supports the ballot initiative.

What are your thoughts?

0314 what time is it?

Our family had a gathering for dinner at Il Fornaio in Manhattan Beach. We (my parents and I) arrived a few minutes early and were seated. Soon after, everyone else arrived ... except for the sister of my brother-in-law. Usually, she’s the first to arrive, so we got a bit worried. The rest of us ordered and started eating. About fifty minutes later, she came walking in and said, “Oh, everyone’s early”.

To which her mother responded, “You didn’t reset your watch, did you?” Daylight Savings began at 2am that morning.

The expression on her face told us that she didn’t.

0313 angels flight

After transferring from the Blue Line to shuttle buses and then to the Red Line, we got off at Pershing Square Station. A few blocks later, we were at the base of Angels Flight, a working funicular that carries people up and down the steep slope of Bunker Hill.

A report on the local news said that it would be reopened to the public on the following Monday, but it was working completely during our visit. The man stationed at the “station” said that the city wanted to be sure it was working before the public unveiling, so it was operating during the whole week prior. But since it was designed before ADA, it was not equipped to handle disabled people, so I waited for the group at the bottom. In retrospect, I should have boarded separate from the chair, which could have been folded to fit through the narrow doorway.

I should have boarded, because there was an interesting fountain display at the top. Oh well.

0313 choo-choo

The Survivor’s Ministry at SBCC was having a Downtown L.A. Outing, so Jim Y and I decided to do that instead of our exercise. We thought that the opportunity might come up to do some “walking”, but we were wrong.

The group was meeting at SBCC and then carpooling to the Del Amo Station of the Blue Line. To go to SBCC would mean backtracking, so we met the group at the Del Amo Station.

We thought that there would be 10 or 12 people in the group, but we were wrong. Imagine our surprise when about 25 people got out of the cars. I opted for a Day Pass, as that would make it easier than buying a ticket each time.

0311 the hidden track

Pastor Joey, the worship leader at SBCC, performed with a group called “Ninth Hour”. One of the albums was “In Need” and the CD was available (for purchase) at the church, so I bought one. The listing on the back shows 11 tracks, and when it is put in a player, it gets scanned and the display shows 11 tracks.

Like my other CDs, I’d play it all the way through, then change to another CD when it was done. One day, I was exercising on the treadmill and listening to the tracks, when I heard the last track playing. When it was done, I realized that I had about five minutes left in my workout, so I decided to wait until I finished and then change the CD. I assumed that the silence coming from the player was due to the CD resetting and stopping.

As I was dismounting the treadmill, a 12th track started playing. I checked the player and it identified it as the 12th track. The song was good and I liked the music. I’d heard the song before, but I can’t remember the name.

I checked with Pastor Joey and he confirmed that the song was intentionally “hidden” on the CD. Now I’m wondering about his other CDs.

0305 gladstone's

Ching and I went for dinner tonight as a late celebration of my birthday, which was the week before. I had a desire for lobster, so we went to Gladstone’s in the Pike area of Long Beach.

It was a Friday, and their lobster special was on Wednesday, so we ended up splitting a Clambake, which had lobster and crab legs, plus a bunch of other good stuff. The accoutrements included a lobster bib so I wore it.

Ching had mentioned to the waitstaff that we were there to celebrate my birthday, so when they came out singing, I wasn’t surprised. What did surprise me was what they came out with. I expected a bowl of ice cream with a candle on it. Instead, they placed a metal holder of cotton candy in front of me.