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saturday, september 2

The Formation Of Clouds
On my way to the gig yesterday, I spotted some interesting cloud formations and took this photo.

Call it my love for blue skies and white puffs of clouds, or maybe my Aquarian trait for things of an ethereal nature, but I DO love looking up at the sky. I guess it's my view of wonder regarding the heavens. That the answer to our question might be up and out there. Well, it could also be within. Okay, my apologies for the philosophical reverie. I just like the sky, that's all...
5:27 PM ~


It's after 4:15 in the morning!!! I must sleep...
4:19 AM ~


Patting Myself On The Back
Okay, sometimes I can allow myself to say, "Hey, I'm good!" So, last night at Valentino's was a fun night. Lots of people, enthusiastic audience, big tips, and the band was tight! I was "right on" last night too. It may have had something to do with the fact that this was my first gig since coming back from vacation.

And the band threw a couple of solos at me, and it got the audience's attention! I pat myself on the back again for drum solos with brushes.

Well, we owe some thanks to the group of people seated directly in front of us. They really dug our music and clapped loudly for us, which got the whole room clapping. Y'know... it's contagious!

I've been feeling good lately. I bought myself some new reading material. Y'know, a man's gotta have his reading material! I just hope my "geeky-side" isn't showing through.
4:03 AM ~


friday, september 1

A Virtual Journey of the Universe
Here you will need the Shockwave plug-in to enjoy the site. This site is awesome!
2:15 PM ~


The Art Of Tibet
Here is an outstanding site that is all about the art of Tibet. Very intersting stuff. Again, you'll need the Flash plug-in to enjoy this site.
2:12 PM ~


For All You Foreign Film Lovers
This site is cool!!! But you need Flash for this one, although there is a non-Flash version.
1:54 PM ~


The Hunger That Is Still There
It's been more than a year since I've last performed with my previous band. And I've been performing for a year now with my own band.

It's been very rough for me. I'm sure everyone would love to tell me to forget about the previous band and move on. Sure, but it's not all that easy. I gave my heart and soul to the previous band. It's not like I can just be dropped and be forgotten, and then my former bandmates somehow imagining that I am no one, a has-been, or someone who was cast off so that they could rise to the top. Actually, I wish them well.

But the problem for me still remains, and it seems I've been trying to pick up the pieces of my broken dreams ever since. Yes, it was MY dream too, and I had made that commitment... a solid one, and I'm sure people will now understand. That I gave my all in that previous band in order to make it. And that my whole life was geared toward that. And now all that is left are musicians who aren't committed totally to what us previous musicians had built up through our own "blood, sweat & tears". I have to say it, that our efforts most definitely counted in getting that band off the ground and that no one person was responsible. It was a team effort.

Well, that whole experience had made me fearful of trying to put so much of myself into a project again, even my own. But hopefully I'll get past it. It's a bitter pill I have to swallow, but I'm working on it. I've been slowly bouncing back from constant depression and trying to survive this.

Funny, my face is still included in the previous band's current ads. I don't care, really. Others might feel like suing to get their picture removed, but hey, keep that reminder there, that I was once a vital force in the band, until someone decided to change things.

Who's bitter? Hey, I have a right to be bitter! Who shouldn't have that right to be bitter, after being dumped on like that.

I loved being in that band, and that's the honest truth. And I feel that kind of sincerity was an asset to the band, and the band's chemistry at the time was the true strength of the band. And now I feel that chemistry is gone, and everyone knows that.

And in the end. That will be my final victory!
2:21 AM ~


thursday, august 31

Coffee Station
Here's my daily view when I make my usual "morning" cup of coffee. So, we have this isolated little countertop in our kitchen, like an alcove. And this is where our "coffee station" is located. I think it was a good move to use this area as a place for coffee. It's sort of Feng Shui, don't you think?

In addition to my morning coffee, this is my breakfast of champions. Of course, I need to add some milk!
2:04 PM ~


Astrology
My sign's Aquarius, what's yours?
12:39 PM ~


The Best Jobs
Here's an interesting article from ABCNEWS.com. The U.S. Department of Labor (along with other sources) have rated the best, worst, most stressful, least stressful jobs. Find out how your job was rated.
11:47 AM ~


Driving Around In Yosemite
Once inside Yosemite National Park, we immediately found ourselves in dense forests of pine trees and winding roads, at elevations of more than 6,000 feet above sea level.

Here's a typical view that one will find once inside Yosemite National Park.
1:36 AM ~


Supernova
My wife dubbed this movie an official DUD. Supernova was an interesting movie that really was just more of the same stuff that Hollywood's been churning out for years.

What's funny is that the movie is rated PG-13 on the official website, but is rated R on the actual DVD! We let our 12 year old son watch it with us thinking it would be exciting to watch a supernova explode. We had to let him watch cartoons upstairs after we were suprised with a sex scene in the first 10 minutes of the movie... Lou Diamond Phillips and Robin Tunney doing the wild thing, but this movie was at least realistic in showing lots of SEX in space.

I guess all that SEX can really break the monotony (and monogamy) of a boring routine in outer space.

And Robin Tunney didn't mind bearing her breasts several times in the movie. Not only during the sex scenes but every time they made a jump through a dimensional warp (they all had to get buck neked before jumping into those glass chambers -- don't ask me why).

I didn't think the movie was a total DUD, but it did remind me of a whole plethora of space movies that have covered the usual... alien intruder, abandoned mining station, stranded space ship, something about to explode and everybody has to get out before it does... y'know, that sort of stuff.

What I like about DVD is checking out the deleted scenes and alternate takes. I thought the deleted ending was better than the one they ended up with.
1:02 AM ~


Alpine Retreat
During our little adventure in Yosemite, we stayed here in this house.

There were actually 4 bedrooms; the billiards room also had 3 single beds for the children to sleep in. The outdoor deck overlooked the surrounding forest mountainside, and had a jacuzzi and an outdoor dining area with gas grill.

A favorite moment for me was being alone in the jacuzzi at night and looking up at the stars amidst the dark silhouettes of the trees.
12:37 AM ~


wednesday, august 30

Washburn Point: Yosemite, CA
Sunset found us overlooking the Yosemite Valley from Washburn Point. It was too late for us to go further to Glacier Point.

Off in the distance you can see a side profile of Half Dome, and below is Yosemite Valley. Not shown and off to the right is where the large glacier that cut the Yosemite Valley began.
10:45 PM ~


The Yosemite Valley
On our second day in Yosemite, after checking out the viewpoint from the tunnel entrance, and then hiking to Bridal Veil Falls the day before, we drove further into the Yosemite Valley and admired the scenic vistas while driving.

The views of Half Dome from the valley level were breathtaking. It was as if we were in the presence of God. The scenic vistas didn't seem real at all, like a huge painting laid out before our eyes.

In the Yosemite Valley we rode the shuttle to a certain point, and hiked to the upper and lower falls. Afterwards, we shopped in Yosemite Village to buy souvenirs, then made our way back to the retreat, a three bedroom house nestled on a mountainside amidst the pine trees.
5:34 PM ~


El Capitan and Half Dome
Here's a view of the Yosemite Valley from just outside the tunnel, sometime in the late afternoon.

This view is actually more spectacular in person and it seems that the depth and grandeur is lost in the photo.

On the left you can see El Capitan, with it's incredible cliff of solid rock, and you can see Half Dome off in the distance. Notice how small those trees look in the valley. They are quite tall when you travel into the valley, but from this viewpoint they look very small.
3:44 PM ~


Sorry, Hon! But Charlize Theron Is Hot!
Okay, so Reindeer Games wasn't so hot in the critics eyes. Well, I thought the talent was hot.

I like Ben Affleck and I think he's a fine actor. I thought he was great in Shakespeare in Love, and maybe in Reindeer Games he was too good looking to be a convict, but hey, all convicts can't be ugly.

I also liked Charlize Theron and thought she did a fine job too. I also liked her performance in the Oscar winning movie, The Cider House Rules. What can I say, she's sexy.

But I still have Winona Ryder as my favortie actress. Of course, then there's Sela Ward, but we won't go into that. My wife knows about the Sela Ward obsession!
3:16 PM ~


Things To Buy
And now... I bring you Loobylu Shopper.
2:48 PM ~


Cool! Teri redesigned her site!
2:36 PM ~


Birthday Greetings
Yesterday I sent an E-Greeting Card to Cyn because it was her birthday.

I went to Amazon.com and picked out a card here where you can leave a voice message by dialing a 1-800 number.

Pretty cool!

I hadn't done this before, so I hope that I didn't sound too creepy.
2:30 PM ~


Cable Modem Access Is Fast, Jack!
I checked out my cable modem speed today with this online speed test.

My G3 kicked ass at 193.6 K bytes per second!!! So now I need a G4... right, Patrick?

Well, my apologies for the braggy entry. It's just that I realized what cable modem access is supposed to be like, and especially when it runs through a newly re-installed system software.

Hallelujah! I'm in cable heaven... finally!
2:17 PM ~


The Real Bear In The Woods
Last Tuesday, the day before we left for Yosemite, I encountered an Internet access problem that left me frustrated. And throughout my vacation it was kind of in the back of my mind the whole time, but I managed to not get stressed over it.

So, the problem was that my connection speed was incredibly slow, up to 1 and 2 minutes just to load a web page! And I have cable modem access!!!

Anyway, I contacted my cable modem service and they said my connection was just fine. And then I thought it was a DNS or Server problem, being that I had been running a web server on my computer for a while. And so, all last night I was contacting all sorts of computer professionals out there via email and a slow connection!

Well, I realized that everyone had told me that my Internet access appeared to be just fine. And that's what led me to the system software itself!

I re-installed the entire system software just this morning. And now everything is back up to speed!!!

Ugh! This was the real bear in the woods!!!
11:37 AM ~


Playing Catch Up
The sad thing about getting back from a weeklong vacation is coming back to a ton of work!

So, this week is turning out to be a real "BEAR"!!!

Remember how I was having these fears about bears? And being afraid of running into one in Yosemite? Well, I found out the bear is right here in San Diego. This whole week is turning into a BEAR of a week... busy, busy, busy!!!
9:59 AM ~


tuesday, august 29

Post Vacation Blues
I was feeling a bit depressed today. Could it be that I had such a great time in Yosemite that I am now feeling the effects of coming back to city life, aka "real life", aka "the grind"?

I was glad to get away from the daily pressures of life, and get back to nature and enjoy the spectacular views of Yosemite, but for me, returning home was a bit of a let down. I'd like to go back again someday, maybe sooner than I think.

Anyway, the views of Yosemite were awesome, but I feel the photos did not capture the true essence of what I experienced.
11:53 PM ~


My Mirror Photo
Here's a photo I'm planning on submitting to the Friends of Jezebel's Mirror site, which is one of Heather's pet projects.

The above photo was taken on the recent trip to Yosemite. Eventually, there'll be more photos to come...
10:11 AM ~


monday, august 28

Beauty Looks Like A Painting
Hello Readers!!! I'm back! Actually, I'm still away from home (San Diego) and right now I'm at my sister-in-law's house in Santa Barbara. I just got back from a wonderful little trip toYosemite. And all is well.

The title for this entry is in reference to the spectacular views one can see in Yosemite.

The views are so beautiful that one can't believe it's real, and it was as if I were looking at a painting.

I will be able to post pictures from the trip later on this week. So stayed tuned...
12:28 AM ~




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