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saturday, july 22
Jazz and Southern-Style Cooking
A good combination for a summer's day... last night in L.A. was a great gig! Almost 200 hard-core swing dancers having
a great time hopping to our music... eat your hearts out San Diego dancers! L.A. was a happenin' event at Susie Q's and
The Swing Thing!
And with that... I am so looking forward to tonight at our favorite jazz hangout, the
Juke Joint
in the
Gaslamp Quarter. I keep trying to remind people that it's an ALL AGES venue.
5:31 PM
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friday, july 21
The
Uptown Boys
will be heading up to
Susie Q's
tonight in L.A.
1:57 PM
~
Hear, hear!
Ev
throws his
two cents
in regarding that
fame fatale
article.
12:37 PM
~
Here's the latest
photo
added to my favorite photos collection.
10:36 AM
~
The Speed Of Light Has Been Exceeded
Fascinating! In a
laboratory experiment,
laser beams in a vapor
were able to go faster than the speed of light. This brings us closer to "making the jump to hyperspace". Hmmm...
food for thought.
3:01 AM
~
Webzine 2000
is upon us, and I always seem to be "gigging" when there's an event I want to check out!
2:50 AM
~
Okay, here goes:My Twenty-Four Useless Facts
More useless facts
here. 1. I've been told I look 29. 2. I'm Filipino-American. 3. I have black hair, brown eyes,
and I'm very tan right now. 4. I live in San Diego with my wife and two boys. 5. I drink whatever's within my reach.
6. I'm a musician, a stay-at-home-Dad, and a wannabe web designer. 7. I own a 4-wheel drive black Expedition
we've nicknamed "Behemoth". 8. I learned HTML and Javascript from Laura Lemay's "Teach Yourself HTML in 14 Days".
9. I own "PERL & CGI for the World Wide Web" by Elizabeth Castro. 10. I've got an innie too. 11. I mainly wear
Vans shoes. 12. I was "this" close to getting a tattoo! 13. My wife is always right! 14. I go "commando".
15. Hmm... no palm pilot. Still using paper planners. 16. DeepLeap is new to me so far. 17. I love popcorn.
18. Winona Ryder is angelic sexy; Angelina Jolie is wicked sexy. 19. I'm afraid of being alone in the house,
even with the lights on! 20. I too admire all music and musicians. *snicker* 21. I drink tons of coffee; not too
much soda.
22. I ask stupid questions; get stupid answers.
23. A Vietnamese lady named "Pheo" cuts my hair.
24. I think it will be great when I finally make it big. Then my life will come together!
2:30 AM
~
A beautiful
sunset.
1:42 AM
~
I love Cyn's
travel pics.
(living vicariously through Cyn and M.
1:40 AM
~
Teri
took some beautiful photos from
Coronado.
Ahhh! I'm biased but I love Coronado and the San Diego area!
1:28 AM
~
HOW DO I FEEL?
Not too good. I feel like I'm on the verge of getting sick today. You know the feeling? My throat is sore. I'm feeling
very tired and sluggish, and I'm a little sore all over.
1:07 AM
~
THE FAINT-HEARTED NEED NOT APPLY:
I find it morbidly fascinating that some prisons are having a hard
time
finding witnesses to executions!
I mean, it's obvious that other than the relatives of the victim, I don't know
of anyone in their right mind who would volunteer out of the blue to witness an execution. I know I wouldn't! I don't
want to sit there and watch another human being die in a violent way. I saw a pig get butchered once in the Philippines.
It was NOT a pretty sight. Death... it's all around us but we pretend it doesn't exist.
1:02 AM
~
thursday, july 20
Check out this photo of a very youthful
Steven Spielberg.
This was taken during the shooting of "Jaws" in 1975. Now doesn't he remind you (maybe just a little) of the actor
Gabriel Byrne? What do
you
think?
3:07 PM
~
Here's an interesting book for us men (and for some women too):
Women Before 10AM
is a photographic collection of some of the most beautiful actresses and models while sleepily themselves
in their pre-caffeinated state!!!
3:02 PM
~
Okay, I must admit to being a
Winona Ryder
fan, and
this site
is probably the most complete resource on Winona Ryder out there on the web. With her newest movie
coming out,
Autumn in New York,
(with co-star Richard Gere) this might be something definitely worth checking out.
2:53 PM
~
wednesday, july 19
Before yesterday, the last time I had ever been on an aircraft carrier was when I was in the second grade and there was a Christmas Party aboard the
USS Constellation (CV-64), my Dad's ship at the time. It's funny how history repeats itself with my youngest son who's currently a second grader.
Yesterday, I volunteered to drive for the last field trip of the year before summer break. One of the boys in my son's classroom has a Dad who is a
lieutenant-commander on board the
USS John C. Stennis (CV-74),
a giant Nimitz-class, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier,
and he invited the classroom for a tour of the ship which was docked at the North Island Naval Base on Coronado Island.
He had just arrived from an 8 month long deployment.
Now, everyone knows how big these aircraft carriers are, but no one really fathoms the incredible size of these ships until one actually boards one and then stands on the top deck and gazes down a length longer than a football field! Yes, the ship is huge! And in addition to the top deck, we climbed up the steep steps (6 flights) to the bridge. The steering wheel of such a huge vessel is surprisingly the size of a car's steering wheel! And looking out the window of the bridge, one wonders how anyone can steer something so big with something so small.
Anyway, it's funny how second graders can be so noisy and crazy in the car, but once you turn the station to
Radio Disney,
everything falls into place and all the kids are enthusiastically singing along to
Britney Spears
or
The Backstreet Boys.
Going over the
Coronado Bay Bridge,
the kids requested that we roll down all the windows and they pretended to be on a rollercoaster and they had all raised their arms in the air screaming. One of the other parents was sort of complaining about how unruly kids can be when in a car, but I say let them have fun and get crazy. They deserve it after being confined to a classroom environment almost everyday!
On the way back to the school we dropped by a park in Coronado which overlooks the
Coronado Bay Bridge.
We ate lunch and let the kids play for about 45 minutes. It's amazing... second graders... they have such an enthusiastic spirit about them that somehow a lot of kids lose when they grow older. All of us parents were discussing that, and we all acknowledged that we must enjoy this time when our kids are this age, when their lives are still simple and carefree, and life's responsibilities are still many years away...
11:58 AM
~
The FTC approves the
merger
of
the Crips and the Bloods,
two long standing rival gangs!
10:36 AM
~
The art of scrapbook making is experiencing a new
popularity.
10:27 AM
~
What?! The famous Taco Bell Chihuahua sent to
the doghouse?
If that's the case, I'm gonna miss that lil' fella.
10:24 AM
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FIFTY-THREE
If I have even just a little sense,
I will walk on the main road
and my only fear will be of
straying from it.
Keeping to the main road is easy,
but people love to be sidetracked.
from the Tao Te Ching
9:09 AM
~
tuesday, july 18
An Excerpt from
Angel
In the arms of the angel
Fly away from here
From this dark cold hotel room
And the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage,
of your silent reverie,
And in the arms of the angel
May you find some comfort here. Words and Music by Sarah MacLachlan.
12:19 AM
~
When my wife and I saw
Sarah MacLachlan
in concert a few years back, I was literally "blown away" by how beautiful she sounded "live". Many times, performers usually don't
sound as good "live" compared to their "studio" recordings. Sarah MacLachlan really sounded great "live". And when she
sang her song,
Angel, I literally had to fight back the tears... it was downright embarrassing!
Anyway, I've always liked her official
website.
Very nicely done!
12:11 AM
~
monday, july 17
Just One Of Those Days
Do you ever have one of those days when you're just lethargic and feeling like
all the energy has somehow been sapped from your body?
Well, I had one of those days today! Big time! Around 5PM I "crashed"... probably from caffeine withdrawals. I
collapsed on my bed and didn't wake up for an hour. My wife said I was just finally feeling the effects of a busy weekend.
Yes, that's true! The way my life is scheduled, the weekend is the busiest time of the week for me because most of my
gigs are on the weekend and I have all these family obligations and things going on too. Anyway, my wife insisted that
I tag along with them on errands in the SUV, so off I went, trying to catch some "ZZZs" in the SUV. At one point I was just
lying in the back, awake but looking out the side window and watching the trees pass in one continuous blur. It was
quite an experience unto itself, as the imagery of blurred trees gliding along was definitely fascinating to me in my
dreamy state.
11:58 PM
~
Today's interesting search phrase comes from the Alta Vista search engine:
GENE+KRUPA+VIDEO+DRUM+SOLOS
Well, cool toonies!!! Of course, I "am" a drummer, so it was close in that regard. I guess I'm flattered.
8:18 PM
~
My friend, Pat (from Los Angeles), posted some
Uptown Boys
pix on his
website.
12:59 AM
~
sunday, july 16
Could the future of film carry over into the Web? I was amazed when I viewed the short film,
405, available at
ifilm.com. It was created by two special effects artists who utilized lots of digital
effects and completed the film in just 3 months, using 6 personal computers!
8:45 PM
~
I played a wedding reception yesterday at someone's estate out in the countryside of Escondido. What a beautiful
"shangri-la" of hundreds of yards of freshly cut grass surrounded by tall trees, and secret, tree-covered paths that seemed
to go forever in one direction. I heard that the original owner was a prominent eye surgeon who bought the property
in 1960 for dirt cheap, and over the years he had built this beautiful, plush green heaven of a forest that had open
areas for gardens... flowers and lawn.The real blessing was that we were able to play what we really love... jazz!
Nathan
had put together a jazz quartet for this gig. The groom is a jazz buff, and so he requested a jazz quartet!
When the gig was over, I came down to Earth! For afterwards,
I had one hour to pack up and rush to the next gig at
Valentino's.
4:21 PM
~
I have to agree with
Heather
regarding the recent
article
on
A List Apart.
This sort of self-gratifying "elitist ranting" is the real stuff that threatens to kill the web!The Web is for "the people", however our differences or shortcomings may be. This is our grand opportunity to express ourselves to the world in a medium that
allows us to do so! Critics like these need to re-evaluate their own viewpoint and discover what the Web is really all about.
3:30 PM
~
Some inspiring words of love...You're just too good to be true,
can't take my eyes off of you,
you'd be like heaven to touch,
I want to hold you so much,
at long last love has arrived,
and I thank God I'm alive,
you're just too good to be true,
can't take my eyes off of you.
Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
Ahh! New found love... sometimes it just doesn't get any better than this... the first realizations of true love. Very inspiring!
3:03 PM
~
I'm going through a serious "classic-rock" binge lately. Why? Nostalgia perhaps? Maybe... but I'm realizing that
there were a whole slew of these great classic songs from the 1960's that I forgot all about. Of course, there was the British Invasion, and
a lot of "highly creative" music spawned out of a hippie-influenced "psychedelic era"... so much classic stuff out of the
1960's and early 1970's. I pulled out my old "Days of Future Passed" album with the classic song by the
Moody Blues,
"Nights In White Satin", such a haunting melody to me. It really made an impact for me as a
young child listening to my little transister radio. The first time I heard the song it was like Deja Vu, as if
I experienced listening to this song before (for the first time). I know this may sound strange, but it's true.
10:14 AM
~
Unbelievable! A 1909-issued
baseball card
gets a winning bid of 1.27 million dollars on
Ebay!!!
9:54 AM
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Visit the virtual
gravesites
of rock stars who passed on...
2:30 AM
~
Ever sniff someone else's arm pit? Well,
these ladies
appear to do it for a living!
2:07 AM
~
Here's one person's
garage sale rant.
1:54 AM
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I'm a hedgie! I'm a hedgie! Thank you
Cyn
for making me one of your hedgies! I am truly honored!
12:41 AM
~
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