OK SO now the first holiday, Christmas, ahs come and gone, and this year I didn't feel as festive as in year's past. It seems that my two boys, Josh and Jeremy, are oblivious to the true meaning of Christmas, at least in the religious sense. The little one especially, is more interested in the presents he received rather than the reason that Christmas is celebrated. Perhaps next year the gifts won't be so free flowing.
This can be attributed to the statements made in my last update, that being of the commercialization of the birth of Christ. Everything is a sale. Ther is a pre holiday Christmas sale, the after Christmas Sale, and the New Year's sale coming up. It seems that the global push of capitalism has caught up with me, at least in my thinkings. I have had experienced some good Christmases, where the spirit is there, and I've celebrated some bad Christmases where the Christmas spirit was dampened by those who I celebrated Christmas with. One of best Christmas days by far I've had was in 1986, when I was in the Philippines at my uncle's house and I was able to witness a part of how he celebrates it. Back then, my uncle opened his gate and let people in. He would then give sacks of rice and slippers to the people who came to greet him. Thise people were indeed grateful. When I was there I witnessed it in the morning, and by noon, he was all out of rice, and retired to his room. But around 1:30, I remember seeing a crowd starting to gather in front of his gate, and I went up to his room and told him that there are still many people who would like to receive gifts, but my uncle told me that he had no more rice to give. So I took matters into my own hands and stopped a fish ball vendor as well as a dirty ice cream vendor and proceeded to give those who were waiting some small gifts of ice cream and fish balls. They thanked me and I heard virtually no complaints, though one woman asked me to ask my uncle to open the gate again. I tapped out both of those vendors when another ice cream vendor came along and I hired him as well. My uncle caught wind of what I was doing and then opened his gate again and proceeded to have the employees of his film company to hand small gifts of money to the people. After it was all done. My uncle looked at me and smiled. He asked me why I did what I did and I replied, that it was the least I could do, and I asked him why he did what he did, and he said that he heard that I hired the food vendors and wanted to see what was going on, and in the process, he decided to again hand out small gifts as well. Never had I experienced the gift of giving like that and still, I don't think I have experienced anything like it. Today, its all about Starbucks gift cards, dirt bike gear and remote control cars and Louis Vuitton handbags. . .
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
The Crass Commercialization of Christmas
This holiday season, I've been to several church related functions. The first of which was my son Joshua's Madrigal feast. Josh is in the men's Ensemble at his high school, Mater Dei in Santa Ana California. For the Christmas concert, they held a Madrigal Feast at the Doubletree in Orange. it was quite an event. There was a king and Queen, a Court, and the common folk. Josh being a mere freshman, he served as commoner and in addition to the singing duties, he also was a food server. We were basically wined and dined for three hours that night and it was quite an experience.
The second Church related function was my niece and nephews Christmas Pageant. My niece Alexis, had a duet with another girl, and that is what I came to hear. The problem was, the parents and relatives at the Church, St. Edwards in Dana Point, California, seemed oblivious to the fact that it was a singing affair. The parents were to put it bluntly, rude, talking and jabbering on about such unnecessary nonsense as stereo systems and what their neighbors bought that it ruined it for me for the most part. When Alexis came up to the stage to sing, I just shhushed a bunch of people so I could hear her sing. They shut up at that point, but the point was they should have been enjoying the singing rather than worry about their neighbors. And on top of this, all things Church related, my brother in law mentioned to me that a few months ago, the church was asking if the congregation could dig a bit deeper into their wallets to support the church, and my brother in law had his suspicions about the request, which was confirmed a few weeks later when the Diocese of Orange settled a series of 87 sexual harassment lawsuits filed against the Diocese for more than $100 million. The whole thing that truly pisses me off about the whole thing is that they asked for more support, to make up for their years of denials, playing musical parishes with priests who should have been, at the least defrocked and banished from the church for their sexual misadventures, But the Church just moved them around and hence, the $100 million settlement.
This settlement dwarfs that of what the Diocese of Boston settled last year. The Diocese of Orange, which is probably like most dioceses around the world, engaged in denials when it came to sexual misdeeds of priests, and even high school teacher sexual misconduct (my son's high school had to deal with the fallout of a series of Orange County Register articles during the summer of 2003, dealing with a whole bunch of teachers alleged to have engaged in sexual activities with high school students during the 1970s to the 1990s.) What appears is that the Diocese again gave these people a way out without having law enforcement get involved. This kind of conduct, teachers having sex with underage students, if reported to law enforcement, would have resulted in jail time. I read in the paper just this week of a basketball coach at a public high school receiving 8 years in prison for having sex with a student over the course of two years.
But I digress and must get on topic, which is the crass commercialization of Christmas. For those of you who don't know, the United States of America is fast becoming un-united. Christian leaders in the south have advised their followers not to patronize stores that don't have merry Christmas signs in their displays or whose employees don't greet them Merry Christmas. it is truly sad when these religious freaks have to resort to this, this economic persecution. I mean, this is the United States of America, where religious beliefs, or lack of religious beliefs, is accepted. All faiths are supposed to be accepted here, and if there are those who would rather say Happy Holidays" than Merry Christmas, then they should be able to say Happy Holidays, rather than merry Christmas. This country is fast becoming the United States of Jesusland.
The second Church related function was my niece and nephews Christmas Pageant. My niece Alexis, had a duet with another girl, and that is what I came to hear. The problem was, the parents and relatives at the Church, St. Edwards in Dana Point, California, seemed oblivious to the fact that it was a singing affair. The parents were to put it bluntly, rude, talking and jabbering on about such unnecessary nonsense as stereo systems and what their neighbors bought that it ruined it for me for the most part. When Alexis came up to the stage to sing, I just shhushed a bunch of people so I could hear her sing. They shut up at that point, but the point was they should have been enjoying the singing rather than worry about their neighbors. And on top of this, all things Church related, my brother in law mentioned to me that a few months ago, the church was asking if the congregation could dig a bit deeper into their wallets to support the church, and my brother in law had his suspicions about the request, which was confirmed a few weeks later when the Diocese of Orange settled a series of 87 sexual harassment lawsuits filed against the Diocese for more than $100 million. The whole thing that truly pisses me off about the whole thing is that they asked for more support, to make up for their years of denials, playing musical parishes with priests who should have been, at the least defrocked and banished from the church for their sexual misadventures, But the Church just moved them around and hence, the $100 million settlement.
This settlement dwarfs that of what the Diocese of Boston settled last year. The Diocese of Orange, which is probably like most dioceses around the world, engaged in denials when it came to sexual misdeeds of priests, and even high school teacher sexual misconduct (my son's high school had to deal with the fallout of a series of Orange County Register articles during the summer of 2003, dealing with a whole bunch of teachers alleged to have engaged in sexual activities with high school students during the 1970s to the 1990s.) What appears is that the Diocese again gave these people a way out without having law enforcement get involved. This kind of conduct, teachers having sex with underage students, if reported to law enforcement, would have resulted in jail time. I read in the paper just this week of a basketball coach at a public high school receiving 8 years in prison for having sex with a student over the course of two years.
But I digress and must get on topic, which is the crass commercialization of Christmas. For those of you who don't know, the United States of America is fast becoming un-united. Christian leaders in the south have advised their followers not to patronize stores that don't have merry Christmas signs in their displays or whose employees don't greet them Merry Christmas. it is truly sad when these religious freaks have to resort to this, this economic persecution. I mean, this is the United States of America, where religious beliefs, or lack of religious beliefs, is accepted. All faiths are supposed to be accepted here, and if there are those who would rather say Happy Holidays" than Merry Christmas, then they should be able to say Happy Holidays, rather than merry Christmas. This country is fast becoming the United States of Jesusland.
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Dream 4: Chinese guy and Shark Tales
Last night I had a dream that I was surfing with this guy who surfs the same break as I. In reality he rides a 5'8 or so red twin fin. In my dream he was riding a gray 6ft twin, with his trademark no leash. The thing is, we were surfing and he bailed on his board and swam over to me for help. You see he was being followed by a shark, and needed a lift back to shore on my longboard, so I gave him one, and that was the end of it. Weird huh.
Coincindentally, my neighbor, Sally, who walks five miles a day at all times of the day, was walking by my house this morning as I was putting my board into my truck and told me about her son's shark encounter up in Monterey. Monterey is up the coast a bit, just south of San Francisco. If you are familiar with John Steinbeck's body of work (Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, Cannery Row, and my all time favorite book, The Pearl), then you'll know the significance of Monterey.
Anyway, Sally's son was surfing off Monterey when he was targeted and followed in by what he estimates to be a 12ft Great White Shark. As she relayed this to me, I was thinking about my dream of the night before., And to top it all off, as I was driving to the beach to surf before work, I happened to be following a Toyota pickup truck that had a custom license plate on it that read SHRK DVA. This could have meant alot of different things, but to me it meant Shark something. So I was tripping pretty hard by the time I got to the surf, The last thing I needed to hear was the lyrics to Dance with me to really freak me out. I associate the lyrics with the movie JAWS. Anyway, I suited up and went surfing anyway. The waves were pretty good, about overhead but more crowded than ever. But at least there was surf. I caught several good waves, including a good backdoor shot that unfortunately closed out, but the drop in was worth it. If anyone tells yuo that surfing is better than sex, believe it. It was such pure enjoyment today, better than what was not happening the last few weeks both in and out of the water.
Coincindentally, my neighbor, Sally, who walks five miles a day at all times of the day, was walking by my house this morning as I was putting my board into my truck and told me about her son's shark encounter up in Monterey. Monterey is up the coast a bit, just south of San Francisco. If you are familiar with John Steinbeck's body of work (Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, Cannery Row, and my all time favorite book, The Pearl), then you'll know the significance of Monterey.
Anyway, Sally's son was surfing off Monterey when he was targeted and followed in by what he estimates to be a 12ft Great White Shark. As she relayed this to me, I was thinking about my dream of the night before., And to top it all off, as I was driving to the beach to surf before work, I happened to be following a Toyota pickup truck that had a custom license plate on it that read SHRK DVA. This could have meant alot of different things, but to me it meant Shark something. So I was tripping pretty hard by the time I got to the surf, The last thing I needed to hear was the lyrics to Dance with me to really freak me out. I associate the lyrics with the movie JAWS. Anyway, I suited up and went surfing anyway. The waves were pretty good, about overhead but more crowded than ever. But at least there was surf. I caught several good waves, including a good backdoor shot that unfortunately closed out, but the drop in was worth it. If anyone tells yuo that surfing is better than sex, believe it. It was such pure enjoyment today, better than what was not happening the last few weeks both in and out of the water.
Freakin Fdisk
Computers are a wonderful instruments of modern society. They do everything. They help you to balance your checkbook, enable you to go online to check the surf (www.surfline.com), enable you to search for lost friends and relatives, enable you to edit video and burn that video to a DVD, and edit images (Gosh what would I do without Photoshop?). But when they break, life truly sucks especially if you depend on the computer to do all those things. For me, it is the main tool that I use to make a living. And my computer has been broken for the last several weeks. I couldn't get online at home, unless I used the notebook or the G5. Finally today I had the time to fix it, by reformatting the hard drive. Now that may seem like a severe thing to do, but I actually do it several times a year. because of the way Windows works, throwing all manner of data all over the drive, instead of in an organized fashion, an HD wipe is good for the hard drive every now and then. But anyway, I've been rebuilding the computer for the last several days, reinstalling all of the apps that I use and all that good stuff that comes with an Fdisk. But I lost all my favorites, because I never figured out how to export and save them to a file.
Thursday, December 02, 2004
PNB Bank Scam?
This is a very interesting story if true. My mother sent this to me in hopes of sending it off to newspapers in the Philippines, but I decided not to because it is difficult to prove these things, especially since it is hearsay for me at least. I told her to send it off to her cousin, who was at one point the president of PNB to see if he could do anything about it. Anyway read on. If true, another sad state of affairs in the Philippines. . .
Forwarded Message:
Subj: FW: Recent Scam Inside a PNB Bank
Date: 12/1/2004 4:08:48 PM Pacific Standard Time
To you guys, especially Ewitt sobrang daming pera, watch out at baka masyadong mag-trust eh mawala lahat ang pera. Sad this happened, I think this is an inside job. Can’t imagine naka uniform sa loob ng bank tapos di nila kilala? This is really a SCAM, sobrang nakakahiya tayong mga PINOY.
Luv ya,
Rosalie Mercado
General Accounting, AV
Fluor Corp.
----Original Message-----
From: Damito, Noemi
Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 2004 2:05 PM
To:
Subject: FW: FYI - RECENT SCAM INSIDE A PNB BANK!!!
Hi everyone,
Just want to share this with everyone specially those going home this
Christmas Season to the Philippines. Be extra careful! This happened to my
cousin just lately and we are trying to pass this on to as many Filipinos
as we can. Please continue passing this around. Thanks.
Estee
Here’s the SCAM story.
Just want to share some sad news with all of you that might benefit you, as well as your relatives, friends and anyone you know back home in the Philippines. I will be sending a more detailed email of the incident later that we can all forward around to share with our Filipino community as a WARNING to as many people as possible, but here’s quick summary:
My uncle went home to the Philippines to plan their retirement and he had P550,000.00 (US$10,000.00) to start building their house out there. They have an account in PNB so last week he went in to deposit the money.
He came in to the PNB bank and asked a security guard for help so he can speak directly to a Manager so he can deposit the money. The guard pointed for him to go to an area inside the bank where a personnel would help him. He was approached by a woman wearing the bank uniform and all. So my uncle started dealing with this lady. She was working with my uncle to deposit his money...she sat with him and started doing the transaction. Once in awhile she would leave the desk to go to the back to get a Manager’s signature or talk with someone. Well my uncle dealt with this lady for more than 45 minutes, while she goes back and forth to him and the ‘Manager’s office’.
Within that 45 minutes, she kept having him filled out forms for the deposit and all the process, then took the cash and my uncle’s savings book BUT NEVER RETURNED. When she never came back, my uncle went to the guard and other employees in the bank to ask where this lady is (she even gave a name) and all of them told him that she is not an employee of the bank, and she ran off with his cash just like that! My uncle asked for the Branch Manager and he was told that they couldn’t help him since he was dealing with a person that did not work for their bank.
This lady was allowed to scam my uncle for 45 minutes inside the PNB Bank, wearing their uniform, had access to the back and all of a sudden no one has seen her or know about her. Talk about something ‘fishy’. My uncle confronted the bank to call the police and he was denied the request. Again their reason was because he should not have trusted the lady and they couldn’t do anything about it because its not
their employee. He even asked to play back what the surveillance camera might have captured since the whole thing was going on inside a restricted area inside their bank, but he was told that they do not have a camera. Hmmm, isn’t it weird that a bank as big as PNB does not have a surveillance camera, but other small stores like 7-11 does? So my uncle had to be the one to call the police and file a report. This incident is under investigation right now and PNB supposedly is trying to figure out what happened but its pretty clear that the whole thing was an inside job because they are all covering for one another. Its so easy to get away with such a scam when its in cash and can happen inside PNB.
My family knows Vic Lima (he has his own radio talk-show in the Philippines) and they are doing a coverage on this because there’s other stories about PNB that can also be considered a SCAM.
If you have an account with PNB or know people that have business with them - please WARN them that something like this can happen to them and to be very careful. You can’t even trust their own employees! Its such a shame that things like this still goes on back home. So its no wonder the Philippines is considered one of the most corrupt countries around. Kahiya no?: If anyone knows someone who works for Filipino newspapers here in the USA or in Canada, please let them know so that they can share this news with the local Filipino community, and more people will be aware of this type of scam inside a PNB Bank.
Forwarded Message:
Subj: FW: Recent Scam Inside a PNB Bank
Date: 12/1/2004 4:08:48 PM Pacific Standard Time
To you guys, especially Ewitt sobrang daming pera, watch out at baka masyadong mag-trust eh mawala lahat ang pera. Sad this happened, I think this is an inside job. Can’t imagine naka uniform sa loob ng bank tapos di nila kilala? This is really a SCAM, sobrang nakakahiya tayong mga PINOY.
Luv ya,
Rosalie Mercado
General Accounting, AV
Fluor Corp.
----Original Message-----
From: Damito, Noemi
Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 2004 2:05 PM
To:
Subject: FW: FYI - RECENT SCAM INSIDE A PNB BANK!!!
Hi everyone,
Just want to share this with everyone specially those going home this
Christmas Season to the Philippines. Be extra careful! This happened to my
cousin just lately and we are trying to pass this on to as many Filipinos
as we can. Please continue passing this around. Thanks.
Estee
Here’s the SCAM story.
Just want to share some sad news with all of you that might benefit you, as well as your relatives, friends and anyone you know back home in the Philippines. I will be sending a more detailed email of the incident later that we can all forward around to share with our Filipino community as a WARNING to as many people as possible, but here’s quick summary:
My uncle went home to the Philippines to plan their retirement and he had P550,000.00 (US$10,000.00) to start building their house out there. They have an account in PNB so last week he went in to deposit the money.
He came in to the PNB bank and asked a security guard for help so he can speak directly to a Manager so he can deposit the money. The guard pointed for him to go to an area inside the bank where a personnel would help him. He was approached by a woman wearing the bank uniform and all. So my uncle started dealing with this lady. She was working with my uncle to deposit his money...she sat with him and started doing the transaction. Once in awhile she would leave the desk to go to the back to get a Manager’s signature or talk with someone. Well my uncle dealt with this lady for more than 45 minutes, while she goes back and forth to him and the ‘Manager’s office’.
Within that 45 minutes, she kept having him filled out forms for the deposit and all the process, then took the cash and my uncle’s savings book BUT NEVER RETURNED. When she never came back, my uncle went to the guard and other employees in the bank to ask where this lady is (she even gave a name) and all of them told him that she is not an employee of the bank, and she ran off with his cash just like that! My uncle asked for the Branch Manager and he was told that they couldn’t help him since he was dealing with a person that did not work for their bank.
This lady was allowed to scam my uncle for 45 minutes inside the PNB Bank, wearing their uniform, had access to the back and all of a sudden no one has seen her or know about her. Talk about something ‘fishy’. My uncle confronted the bank to call the police and he was denied the request. Again their reason was because he should not have trusted the lady and they couldn’t do anything about it because its not
their employee. He even asked to play back what the surveillance camera might have captured since the whole thing was going on inside a restricted area inside their bank, but he was told that they do not have a camera. Hmmm, isn’t it weird that a bank as big as PNB does not have a surveillance camera, but other small stores like 7-11 does? So my uncle had to be the one to call the police and file a report. This incident is under investigation right now and PNB supposedly is trying to figure out what happened but its pretty clear that the whole thing was an inside job because they are all covering for one another. Its so easy to get away with such a scam when its in cash and can happen inside PNB.
My family knows Vic Lima (he has his own radio talk-show in the Philippines) and they are doing a coverage on this because there’s other stories about PNB that can also be considered a SCAM.
If you have an account with PNB or know people that have business with them - please WARN them that something like this can happen to them and to be very careful. You can’t even trust their own employees! Its such a shame that things like this still goes on back home. So its no wonder the Philippines is considered one of the most corrupt countries around. Kahiya no?: If anyone knows someone who works for Filipino newspapers here in the USA or in Canada, please let them know so that they can share this news with the local Filipino community, and more people will be aware of this type of scam inside a PNB Bank.
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
Saturday, November 20, 2004
Dream 3: Bong pogos into a river
Last night I went to sleep early. It seems that dual surf sessions tired me out too much to stay up past 8pm. Anyway, when the REMs started going I had a dream I was at a party for one of the studio mothers in the Philippines and my cousin Bong, who is not an actor, (I feel that actors are those who take to the stage rather than the silver screen) but a movie star in the Philippines, was doing a pogo stick dance with another movies star and they pogo'd into a river, which took them way down stream. The river was only 5ft deep but it was running so fast that he couldn't get himself out of it. So he practiced a technique that he learned while trying out for the Philippine olympic kayak team, (it was a dream so don't ask me why), to float feet first and keep your head up. So that is what he did for several miles, and we tracked him via helicopter until finally he was able to pull himself onto a fork in the river that wasn't running fast. He was saved, and that was it.
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Random 'Rithmetic notes
Today I don't have much to write about, except that being a parent can be challenging sometimes. For example, I was going through my son's math workbook on his teacher's advice and noticed all the red ink for incorrect answers. I had tried to fix this prior by having him go to the math tutoring club after school but it seems that it didn't work, so I asked him to redo the day's math homework, and the wife and the know it all teenaged son started to get on my case for being too harsh. But I wasn't. At least I don't think I was.
Anyway, my son then went into his room on his bed and started to redo the math homework. When I went to his room to see how he was doing, he proceeded to go into his closet, turn on the light, and shut the door and did his math homework in there. So he was there for 30 minutes redoing his math homework. Now he is watching TV and asked if I wanted to watch SEINFELD, and I said yes. It was the episode where he was trying to get rid of his BMW because of the body odor left behind, which stank so bad that even the thief wouldn't steal it. What was your favorite episode of SEINFELD?
Anyway, my son then went into his room on his bed and started to redo the math homework. When I went to his room to see how he was doing, he proceeded to go into his closet, turn on the light, and shut the door and did his math homework in there. So he was there for 30 minutes redoing his math homework. Now he is watching TV and asked if I wanted to watch SEINFELD, and I said yes. It was the episode where he was trying to get rid of his BMW because of the body odor left behind, which stank so bad that even the thief wouldn't steal it. What was your favorite episode of SEINFELD?
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
The Pictures below. . .
I've been working with the Hello image uploading app that was recommended to me by a master blogger with a "Sunny" disposition, so bear with if I mess up. At any rate, the watches are my father's current obsession, so much so that he bought three of them within a few months and even took me and my sister to a dinner at Tommy Bahama in Newport Beach that featured like minded folk who are obsessed with this timepiece.
The picture below that is my of two boys taken four years ago when we were living on Oahu. That shot is off Waikiki. We were heavily into water sports while living there. I had the time of my life just living and enjoying the simple life, surfing and working from home (I am a writer, which for the most part afforded me the luxury of working where ever I had an Internet connection, and I chose to move to Hawaii. When we started the company back in 1999, my only quid pro quo was I would do the job from anywhere that I wanted and it was agreed upon.
We all had visions of getting rich off the whole notion of an Internet startup but we were undisciplined at the time and blew through $3 million in less than a year. I was the fourth person hired when we launched in 1999 and we grew from an initial 12 up to 60 and back down to around 12 in one year. This happened when I was in Hawaii and partly due to it, and the terror attacks, we ended up moving back to Cali. We were about two years too late to catch the bubble before it burst, but the good thing is we are still in business and on the Internet, while thousands of other Internet companies that blew through more millions than us are gone, sitting in the digital dustbowl of the Web. It was a learning experience and still is, but I have no regrets.
The picture below that is my of two boys taken four years ago when we were living on Oahu. That shot is off Waikiki. We were heavily into water sports while living there. I had the time of my life just living and enjoying the simple life, surfing and working from home (I am a writer, which for the most part afforded me the luxury of working where ever I had an Internet connection, and I chose to move to Hawaii. When we started the company back in 1999, my only quid pro quo was I would do the job from anywhere that I wanted and it was agreed upon.
We all had visions of getting rich off the whole notion of an Internet startup but we were undisciplined at the time and blew through $3 million in less than a year. I was the fourth person hired when we launched in 1999 and we grew from an initial 12 up to 60 and back down to around 12 in one year. This happened when I was in Hawaii and partly due to it, and the terror attacks, we ended up moving back to Cali. We were about two years too late to catch the bubble before it burst, but the good thing is we are still in business and on the Internet, while thousands of other Internet companies that blew through more millions than us are gone, sitting in the digital dustbowl of the Web. It was a learning experience and still is, but I have no regrets.
No Swell
There hasn't been a swell since last week and I am dying to get tubed! I went out at Newport before work today to check it out and it was pertty flat. 1ft ankle slappers at best. The water has again turned a bit cold, around 60 degrees or so, and its only going to get colder. On days like these I wish I were back in Hawaii, at least there'd be some swell some where on Oahu. Or if it was flat I could at least go free diving off Shark's Cove or Hanauma Bay. I miss those days in Hawaii. Truly lazy days.
But its been flat.
After my session I noticed that there was some cracks on the rail of my board, right down near the tail. I am thinking that the leash is providing some serious stress in the tail area which resulted in the cracks. So I went to Surfside to buy some ding repair kit, and I'll be out of the water for at least a few days to let the board dry so I can patch the cracks. Pray for SURF.
But its been flat.
After my session I noticed that there was some cracks on the rail of my board, right down near the tail. I am thinking that the leash is providing some serious stress in the tail area which resulted in the cracks. So I went to Surfside to buy some ding repair kit, and I'll be out of the water for at least a few days to let the board dry so I can patch the cracks. Pray for SURF.
Monday, November 01, 2004
The Cult that is Panerai
I joined the Panerai cult on my birthday. For those of you who aren't in the know, the Panerai is a timepiece created by the Italian military that enabled their frogmen to adequately carry out their attacks on the allied powers on time. The watch used an element that the company called radiomir that glowed in the dark, and on a 44mm watch face, was as bright as the glow in the darks even many feet below the ocean. My father, who as of late had been privy to Omega and Swatch watches prior to learning about the cult that is Panerai, bestowed upon me such a watch (he has given me all of my watches sans one), a PAM000111 to be exact. He already bought himself and my mother Panerai's and decided he needed to buy another one, for me. My mother's is a 00117 with 48 bling blings, so this one costs about the same money as a new Honda Civic. Crazy eh? Anyway, the watch company was acquired by Vendome a few years back, the same company that owns Rolex, Cartier, etc. Its a monster timepiece, very simple yet elegant at the same time.
Thursday, October 28, 2004
Dream 2: Kathy Rauls' House
I had the strangest dream in a while. My parent's bought Kathy Rauls' parents house on Carnegie Ave. It is weird because my parents live the next block over from Kathy's parents, but anyway its a dream. SO we went to check it out and there were a few people still renting out one of the rooms. We went outside in the backyard, and the backyard, which in reality abuts up to a nursery (Sakioka Farms) , was actually butted up against a house in Midway City, and the back yard had a car on a hydraulic lift and several pigs and dogs running around. This was all viewed from the lanai which was on the second floor and guarded by a Boxer dog that had the most silky fur coat. The Rauls' left some antique Tonka trucks, and various other trinkets. I remember the dog being so friendly and truly opretty. he'd come up and lick you, then go back to his perch and bark at anyone who tried to come up to his perch, except me.
Anyway, I should have wrote this down when it was still fresh in my mind, because other people were in it, but I just can't remember who.
Anyway, I should have wrote this down when it was still fresh in my mind, because other people were in it, but I just can't remember who.
Monday, October 18, 2004
Please don't dump. . .Drains to Ocean
It rained on Saturday night. It was the first significant precipitation in six months, and when it rains, all of the trash that builds in the storm drains ends up in the ocean. Yup, Newport Beach and all the other beaches on the coast were filled with trash that came down the storm drains. I walked Newport Beach today, from the Newport Pier to the first jetty, and I will tell you there was all kinds of trash on the sand. In addition to broken bits of styrofoam, I saw about two dozen different shoes, at least 30 to 40 tennis balls, several spray paint cans, a golf ball, a big plastic container, lipstick, socks, tons of soda bottles and water bottles, a full bottle of red gatorade, a mattress (I think it was a queen or a double), plastic wrappers, a boat door ( I think it is teak, I picked it up and took it home) for a cuddy cabin, at least four jars of peanut butter, some unopened packets of instant oat meal, a tire, an inner tube, a broken half of a skateboard, some rubber balls, a bunch of packets of hand cleaner, a cactus, tons of driftwood, and all kinds of other stuff. It really amazes me how some things end up in the ocean. I mean, a mattress? and jars of opened peanut butter? How does that end up in the ocean? I grabbed about 16 tennis balls for my dog, and some other foltsam. next I want to graobn some driftwood to put in my garden but we'll see what the next storm churns up. because it is supposed to hit day after tomorrow. I'll try and post some pictures of the junk after the next storm. It truly amazes me all the trash that ends up in the ocean.
Friday, October 15, 2004
Dream 1: Zombies in Huntington Beach
Last night I dreamed that Huntington beach was about to be invaded by zombies, and they were coming from the beach. You supposedly could tell they were zombies because their eyes glowed. My best friend in High school, Tim Kearsing, was the mayor of HB and he insisted he had everything under control. He didn't, so my wife and I tried to head back to Manoa (in Hawaii, hey it was a dream anyway), but in the crush of people trying to get away from the zombies, I got separated from my wife. I ended up getting away with Lois Tanner's clan (she is Mormon, and she and I sat next to each other for two years in 5th and 6th grade), but the entire time I was calling out Jovi's name and couldn't locate her. I became so distressed at not being able to find her, I said to myself, this is a bad dream and I am going to wake up and she'll be next to me. So I decided to wake up from my dream and sure enough, she was there. I was relieved because I found her again.
So to kick off my occasional dream entries, I am letting you read up on my latest, Zombies in Huntington Beach. I have a few other good ones that I've kept in my head since high school, including driving the flyover freewway in the Amazon, the 200lb popcorn girl who gains weight for every floor she goes up in an elevator, and driving to the Philippines from California.
So to kick off my occasional dream entries, I am letting you read up on my latest, Zombies in Huntington Beach. I have a few other good ones that I've kept in my head since high school, including driving the flyover freewway in the Amazon, the 200lb popcorn girl who gains weight for every floor she goes up in an elevator, and driving to the Philippines from California.
Outsourcing Flu Vaccine?
Both Josh, Jeremy and myself got flu shots today. The boys' pediatrician made a housecall at my mother's house, insisting that we get a flu shot, because in part of Joshua's asthma. The thing for me is I don't particularly like getting a flu shot, this being only the second time that I've received one. This year especially I was hesistant, (but for only 10 minutes) because of this administration's failure to ensure that there were adequate supplies of flu vaccine for those who wanted one. I can't believe that the United States, seemingly the most technologically advanced country in the world, can't even adequately supply flu vaccines to the 50 million Americans who want one. How can this administration claim to be in the best interest of the people of the country when it has to outsource the production of flu vaccine to a foreign country?
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Do I Discriminate?
Today was not really a good day for me. First I found out that the City of Newport Beach is threatening to ban fishing off both the Newport and Balboa Piers due to the pier fisherman not picking up their trash and basically making a total mess of the place. And I posted this on a local fishing message board basically blaming the Vietnamese fisherman who fish at the end of those piers everyday catching bonito. (For those of you who don't know, a bonito is known as a little tuna. It is a pelagic fish that fights extremely well on light line). And I got in trouble with the people who post to that message board. But the fact is, the people who are trashing the place, taking more fish than allowed by law, are primarily of Vietnamese origin. I got a full on shitload of dissension from people on that board for being "racially motivated" So my dilemma is, am I racially motivated? I think that I am not, but the way that I had worded the message seemed to construe that I am. Questions were thrown at me like "How do you know they were all vietnamese?" "Maybe they were Korean and you didn't know it" People were indeed pissed off, and I should have used the politically correct term "Asian" and not Vietnamese. The issue with me is, I call it as see it, and I walk that pier everyday and I know who trashes the piers, and after living in Westminster California, (which happens to have the largest concentration of Vietnamese immigrants outside of Vietnam) for 30 of my 30+ years on this earth, I know a vietnamese when I see one. I've had Vietnamese friends growing up and even had several Vietnamese girlfriends while in college. SO Am I Racial? I try not to be but today, my words may have sent the message that I am.
The DEBATE
The third and final debate of the 2004 elections was held tonight with both candidates stretching the truth on the issues that face not only Americans, but the rest of the world. Both candidates did pretty good in skewing the truth, but I just don't like Bush. Which brings me to the topic of my older sister, who is a Bush fan. Bush fans fail to see that their candidate is so wroing on many issues and when I stated that Bush Lies, my sister's husband asked what did he lie about, and I listed off a litany of lies that he has told the American people and the world. After that heated exchange my sister said, let's go we're leaving. And on top of this it was my dad's birthday. It is truly sad that Bush fans can't handle the truth that their president lies. Its hard to defend a liar isn't it. The fact is, he lied about Iraq just so he could depose Saddam Hussein because Hussein allegedly tried to have the First Bush assasinated. Now more than 1000 US Soldiers are dead and the world is no safer. Al Quaida has morphed into this Hydra that keeps growing heads and Iraq is now, thanks to Bush's invasion, a haven for terrorists who plot to kill people. Bush calls Iraq the central front on terror and he is right, thanks to him, there are more terrorists being created in Iraq every day. Think about it, before the invasion, Hussein had an iron grip on security in that country, just like our pal Marcos did. Today, life truly sucked.
The DEBATE
The third and final debate of the 2004 elections was held tonight with both candidates stretching the truth on the issues that face not only Americans, but the rest of the world. Both candidates did pretty good in skewing the truth, but I just don't like Bush. Which brings me to the topic of my older sister, who is a Bush fan. Bush fans fail to see that their candidate is so wroing on many issues and when I stated that Bush Lies, my sister's husband asked what did he lie about, and I listed off a litany of lies that he has told the American people and the world. After that heated exchange my sister said, let's go we're leaving. And on top of this it was my dad's birthday. It is truly sad that Bush fans can't handle the truth that their president lies. Its hard to defend a liar isn't it. The fact is, he lied about Iraq just so he could depose Saddam Hussein because Hussein allegedly tried to have the First Bush assasinated. Now more than 1000 US Soldiers are dead and the world is no safer. Al Quaida has morphed into this Hydra that keeps growing heads and Iraq is now, thanks to Bush's invasion, a haven for terrorists who plot to kill people. Bush calls Iraq the central front on terror and he is right, thanks to him, there are more terrorists being created in Iraq every day. Think about it, before the invasion, Hussein had an iron grip on security in that country, just like our pal Marcos did. Today, life truly sucked.
Monday, October 11, 2004
Hawaii Versus The OC
Hawaii is a place that is unlike no other in the world. For one, it is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. For two, the people are genuinely Original, unlike no other. Case in point, my wife and my two boys, Joshua and Jeremy were at a Keiki children's fair in 2000, when we lived on Oahu (we still have a house in the valley, Manoa Valley, which is the subject of an entirely different post). My wife saw a local woman eating a slice of a seven layer chocolate cake. It was the most insane looking chocolate cake that the both of us had ever seen. Her interest piqued, my wife asked the woman "Is that cake good?" and the woman replied, "Delicious, want to try?" Amazing. I don't know of any other place on this earth where a total stranger would offer another total stranger a taste of her cake. What really took the cake (pardon the pun) was about 40 minutes later, I asked a man, who was eating slice of the same 7 layer cake, if the cake was good, and he replied "It tastes really good. You like to try?" think about it. That is two total strangers offering two total strangers a taste of their food.
Contrast that with California. We were at Fry's Electronics over the weekend and Jeremy had to use the restroom. The restroom is located past the massive line that is always at Fry's on the weekend. SO we went through the line, excusing ourselves as we went. We got to this old couple and asked to be excused and the old man replied, what for, and sort of blocked our path. My wife and I replied because we had to go to the bathroom and the old man decided to direct us to bathroom, explaining how we needed to go around and not through the line. Well the bathroom is located at the front of the line and he knew it and we knew it and we were making the shortest route to it, but the old man wanted to be an asshole that day. I wanted to tell him to fuck off, but my children were around, so I muttered what an asshole he was as we past. It really was none of his business why we wanted to pass him, so he can fuck off.
The OC. For those who are unfamiliar with the OC, or Orange County, it is the county that sits between San Diego and Los Angeles counties. Orange County really has a very fast paced lifestyle with plenty of assholes, nice people, immigrants, illegal immigrants, and white people. Filipinos are pretty scarce here, but there are a lot of Vietnamese and Mexicans in the OC, as well as white people and republicans. The old man at Fry's, he is your typical OC asshole. And there are a lot of them here. The county is divided primarily into two parts, North county and South County. North county is an older part of the county, more established with a matching decaying infrastructure. South County is newer, with better roads and newer areas, but therein lies the difference. Folks in South County tend to be of the younger set, and supposedly have higher incomes than those in North County. The women in South County have a higher propensity of plastic surgery than the women of North County. That is just my opinion, having lived both in North County and South County. There are a lot of plastic people in South County. Is OC like the OC, the TV show? Well, yes and no. Yes Newport Beach is full of huge houses and Donzi's and women like the new Mrs. Nicol. To a lot of people, Newport Beach is a study in unobtainable. Old money living on the beach or on the harbor. Really Newport Beach is old money.
I work in Newport Beach and also surf in Newport Beach everyday. I've always enjoyed surfing in Newport versus Huntington. The waves seem to have a better shape. So I am in Newport everyday. and you see your typical newport clone in Newport beach. I call them clones because, almost everyone looks the same in Newport Beach. It is as if the guys and the girls have been cloned. A Typical Newport looking guy drives a raised truck, wears black wraparound sunglasses, a shaved or close cropped hairdo, and calf length shorts. A pit bull, Rottweiler, Akita, or similarly aggressive dog is an optional fashion accesory (Visit the local animal shelters and you'll know what I mean, dogs as accessories is ridiculous, but its all part of the macho mindset of the type that hangs down in Newport). A typical Newport girl is blond or brunette (Asian women are somewhat rare down in the numbered streets), nice body, and active. These clones are looking for one thing, and that is to score. And they do. Oftentimes, I'll be driving through early in the morning for a surf and see a woman going to her car, hair a mess, usually wearing some revealing sweat pants or some such, heading home after a night of partying. Mind you that these sights are pretty much exclusive to West Newport, as this is the party side of newport, what I call the barrio, because the descriptions of the people that I gave to you previously are of the West Newport crowd, which is primarily migrant, meaning they are primarily renters. Dennis Rodman had his bachelor pad in West Newport. The other side of Newport is where the monied folks reside. Dean Koontz is a resident of Newport's Balboa Island, which is exclusive. Kobe Bryant, who beat the rape charge is also a resident of Newport, though he resides in Newport Coast, which is the setting for the fictional TV show, The OC. Newport though is by far my favorite city in Orange County. Is it like The OC? yes and no.
Contrast that with California. We were at Fry's Electronics over the weekend and Jeremy had to use the restroom. The restroom is located past the massive line that is always at Fry's on the weekend. SO we went through the line, excusing ourselves as we went. We got to this old couple and asked to be excused and the old man replied, what for, and sort of blocked our path. My wife and I replied because we had to go to the bathroom and the old man decided to direct us to bathroom, explaining how we needed to go around and not through the line. Well the bathroom is located at the front of the line and he knew it and we knew it and we were making the shortest route to it, but the old man wanted to be an asshole that day. I wanted to tell him to fuck off, but my children were around, so I muttered what an asshole he was as we past. It really was none of his business why we wanted to pass him, so he can fuck off.
The OC. For those who are unfamiliar with the OC, or Orange County, it is the county that sits between San Diego and Los Angeles counties. Orange County really has a very fast paced lifestyle with plenty of assholes, nice people, immigrants, illegal immigrants, and white people. Filipinos are pretty scarce here, but there are a lot of Vietnamese and Mexicans in the OC, as well as white people and republicans. The old man at Fry's, he is your typical OC asshole. And there are a lot of them here. The county is divided primarily into two parts, North county and South County. North county is an older part of the county, more established with a matching decaying infrastructure. South County is newer, with better roads and newer areas, but therein lies the difference. Folks in South County tend to be of the younger set, and supposedly have higher incomes than those in North County. The women in South County have a higher propensity of plastic surgery than the women of North County. That is just my opinion, having lived both in North County and South County. There are a lot of plastic people in South County. Is OC like the OC, the TV show? Well, yes and no. Yes Newport Beach is full of huge houses and Donzi's and women like the new Mrs. Nicol. To a lot of people, Newport Beach is a study in unobtainable. Old money living on the beach or on the harbor. Really Newport Beach is old money.
I work in Newport Beach and also surf in Newport Beach everyday. I've always enjoyed surfing in Newport versus Huntington. The waves seem to have a better shape. So I am in Newport everyday. and you see your typical newport clone in Newport beach. I call them clones because, almost everyone looks the same in Newport Beach. It is as if the guys and the girls have been cloned. A Typical Newport looking guy drives a raised truck, wears black wraparound sunglasses, a shaved or close cropped hairdo, and calf length shorts. A pit bull, Rottweiler, Akita, or similarly aggressive dog is an optional fashion accesory (Visit the local animal shelters and you'll know what I mean, dogs as accessories is ridiculous, but its all part of the macho mindset of the type that hangs down in Newport). A typical Newport girl is blond or brunette (Asian women are somewhat rare down in the numbered streets), nice body, and active. These clones are looking for one thing, and that is to score. And they do. Oftentimes, I'll be driving through early in the morning for a surf and see a woman going to her car, hair a mess, usually wearing some revealing sweat pants or some such, heading home after a night of partying. Mind you that these sights are pretty much exclusive to West Newport, as this is the party side of newport, what I call the barrio, because the descriptions of the people that I gave to you previously are of the West Newport crowd, which is primarily migrant, meaning they are primarily renters. Dennis Rodman had his bachelor pad in West Newport. The other side of Newport is where the monied folks reside. Dean Koontz is a resident of Newport's Balboa Island, which is exclusive. Kobe Bryant, who beat the rape charge is also a resident of Newport, though he resides in Newport Coast, which is the setting for the fictional TV show, The OC. Newport though is by far my favorite city in Orange County. Is it like The OC? yes and no.
Thursday, October 07, 2004
Bloggin
Ok, I admit it, I haven't been all that up about things on the internet, even though I've been making my living on the internet since we formed our company in 1999. This blogging thing is very new to me, though I first heard about it several years ago, I guess now is as good a time as any to start one. keep in mind, that I haven't written in such a manner since at least 1989, when I had an entirely different view on things. Call it a decades plus personal writer's block. Anyway, let's call it my own personal soap box on the day to days. We'll call it controlled chaos, because anything and everything here will be up for discussion.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
