Nothing like a rear end collision to wake you up in the morning

That traffic in LA is atrocious and known for bullshit gridlock.  Entire schedules have to be planned around peak rush hours.  Even as nice as the weather may be, this is one of the most infuriating parts of being in Southern California. 

Without getting into too much detail, I had a first hand experience with just how bad it can be yesterday.  For the purposes of this quick post, let me use some pretty pictures. 

This is a picture of my car.

This is a Mercedes G Class

This is what happens when a Mercedes G Class decides to rear end me when traffic was barely moving.

 

Of course it was a kid driving… with no license… or insurance… and it was his dad’s car.  And when I say kid, I really mean it.  He gave me his information on a page from his Algebra II homework… nice.

Let’s just say I’m not a happy camper right now.

Hours of my life wasted due to crappy software design

Since the move I’ve been going through boxes I haven’t seen in years.  One such box contained a bunch of my old cell phones.  While digging in it I stumbled upon what used to be my favorite phone, the Samsung T309.  It was my trusty side arm during the transition from Florida to North Carolina and for a couple years after.  Having always been a fan of flip phones this was my very first foray into camera phone territory.  The cell reception was decent and the picture quality poor, but there was something about it I always liked.  Even with the low quality I had some choice shots locked away in this antiquated beast.

With nostalgia fueling my efforts I went searching for a way to get these pictures off the phone.  Of course Samsung went the proprietary route with their connection.  The data cable I needed was too old for T-Mobile to still have in stock and too obscure for any mom & pop places to carry.  Thankfully, the internet provided me with what I needed.  Fast forward a week and the cable has arrived.  I load the software from the Samsung website, plug in the cable AND….. nothing.  It didn’t work.

At first I thought it was the cable, but then I tried 3rd party applications that recognized the phone even though they couldn’t pull the pictures off.  To say I was frustrated was an understatement. Old habits die hard, so I dove into the issue with my usual troubleshooting ferocity.  Hours later I felt like chucking the phone out the damn window and punting my laptop down the stairs.  I wasn’t the only one, finding countless forum posts and angry websites from other users screaming at the craptastic Samsung software.  Upgrading to the newest version was a compatibility crapshoot and getting a hold of older software was damn near impossible.

In the end I went with the earliest software I could find and installed every version thereafter that was available.  Not the most scientific of approaches, but since there was no rhyme or reason to the way the software behaved it was the only option.  Well into the night I finally found a version that worked.  After all those hours and all the effort, I saved a paltry 14 low resolution photos.  In the end, it was the memories these photos represented that were worth more to me than anything else.

 

The love of my wonderful girl

 

Good times with great friends

 

and the best concert I’ve ever been to

For the first time in years

Everything I own is under one roof.  No more storage units, multiple apartments in different states/countries or any other sort of geographically dispersed configuration.  All of our things are now situated in California in one huge pile in the middle of our living room.

Having lived a rather spartan existence for several years now, its shocking to see just how much crap we have still clung to.  Some of it for sentimental reasons, some due to lack of time to sort through it and others we forgot we had.   In the grand scheme of things we really don’t have that many possessions, especially since our furniture is almost nonexistent.  That being said, it’s still a lot when compared to the gypsy way we’ve been living the past 4 years.

The nonstop stress surrounding this coast to coast move has finally drained out of me, leaving me sluggish and weary.  The anticipation of the event along with the bucket of worry that is thrown into any move, had me wound tight for several weeks.  Now there’s nothing left to do but settle in, which thankfully is a low key activity.

Speaking of which, I’ve been here a week and am already digging it.  The weather and a lot of the neighborhoods remind me heavily of Miami, specifically South Beach.  That’s a very cool vibe to have.  Our pad is within walking distance of a metric ass-ton of things to do and/or eat.  Which not only saves on gas, but helps prevent us from becoming corpulent porpoises.  I have some high hopes for this new chapter in our lives.  It’s going to be nice to have a place that feels like home again as opposed to a glorified hotel.

Is it an unwritten law?

That whenever you get into a moving truck the radio is always on classic rock?

Anti-Male

Humans in general are tribal animals.  We look to find others similar to ourselves, searching for that comfort and sense of belonging.  Gangs, high school cliques, professional associations and secret societies are all examples of our desire for safety in numbers of like minded individuals. 

Now imagine the other  end of the spectrum.  Encountering someone who is the antithesis of what you are.  Someone who resonates at an exactly opposite frequency.  I recently had the pleasure (or is it unpleasure?) of meeting that person.

Let me preface my comments with the following: he is a nice guy and I don't harbor him any ill will.  My critique of him is not so much a put down or chastising but an observation of human characteristics. 

My ideas and values of manhood stem from my father (as they usually tend to in our culture).  I absorbed them not only through his words but his actions.  For me, a man is someone who is ambitious, works hard, has strength of will and lives life with a fiery passion.  Passion is especially important.  To live a life devoid of it, is to curse yourself to a bland milk toast existence fueled by the crumbs of true experience.  When it comes to my male friends they typically fall into the "alpha male" crowd.  This stems not from a desire for macho bullshit, but because passion and aggression are normal traits of this group.  Even if opinions differ they are held with a steely determination that I can respect.

With that in mind, let me bring you to the events of several weeks ago.  While up in the Maryland area, I hung out with a friend of mine from DC.  She had been a bartender when I met her and we kept in touch after my project finished.  When she heard I was in town, we made plans to hit a reggae show and swing by a jazz club she was working at.  Before we could kick off the night's festivities, we needed to swing by her place so she could top up on food and cash.  Her apartment is a cool little spot that she shares with her boyfriend. 

I had met him once or twice before, when I first hung out with her.  He never really made an impression because there was never anything impressionable about him.  It wasn't so much that he was laid back as that he was beige.  All those times had been in public settings so there was at least a modicum of effort being made.  This time, I was delving into the lair of the beast.  No pretenses, no airs, just raw unfiltered him.  His girl played the good host while he sucked oxygen out of the room.  I tried engaging him in light conversation, but it never went anywhere.  I tried all the tricks, from picking subjects related to things he had in the home to current political events (a popular go to method in DC) to recent movies.  Eventually silence was less painful than trying to pull anything out of him.

Finally, we were ready to hit the show and on our way out.  As we're leaving he gives his girl a kiss goodbye.  I turned my head, not out of politeness (I grew up in a Hispanic household. Kissing hello and goodbye is a way of life) but out of discomfort.  What should have been a warm display of affection was instead an awkward motion done out of habit.  It lacked even an ounce of passion in its inflection.  At that very moment is when I dubbed him the "anti male".  

He existed in a polar opposite to my wavelength.  No ambition, no drive, did enough to get by, and completely without passion.  Even in the subjects that were his "favorite" there was no spark, no light in his eyes.  Living like that would be my own personal hell, a breathing functioning zombie shambling through life never truly ever tasting it.

She's been with him for a while so I hope that he reserves his passion for her in private, but if this is the way he is throughout his being then I have no idea how she endures it. 

Wordle?

I stumbled upon this site from a writing technology blog I hit every so often.  It creates a nifty Web 2.0 style word cloud out of any RSS feed or block of text you give it.  For shits and giggles, I popped in my RSS feed and here’s a couple I came up with:

I get the feeling I might be writing a lot about books, reading & writing… hmm….

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach

I am living proof of that.  My girl who knows me all too well, started Memorial day with a super breakfast explosion.  Words do not do it justice.  First, here's the entire spread...

As you can see below, tasty southwestern style hash browns with a small mountain of toast.

 

Coupled with pancakes, cheese omelette, turkey sausages and tomatoes.

All that with the usual assortment of jams, butter, cheeses (cream & farmer) and syrup.  Topped off with a glass of yummy milk and the engine oil I lovingly refer to as Cuban Coffee (yes it needs to be capitalized, its that damn good)

After devouring everything in sight I promptly entered a food coma.  I for one cannot think of a better way to start the day.

Reason #245860 I Love My Girl

Yummy Sunday Morning Breakfast

Delicious omelette (cracked pepper turkey, jarlsberg cheese, spinach with tomatoes on top) & perfectly toasted wheat bread with margarine.  It was so damn good I had to share.

That is all =)

Perfect comment on life in London

 Graffiti artist Banksy pulls off most audacious stunt to date - despite being watched by CCTV | the Daily Mail

According to statistics the average Londoner is watched by at least 300 CCTV cameras a day.  Britain has 4.2 million CCTV cameras which is 20 percent of the cameras globally.  Both of these numbers are frightening. 

The really scary part is how easily you get used to it walking around London.  No matter where you go, you can look up to find at least one camera pointed at you.  They even have mobile units driving around the city.  That blew my mind when I first saw them.  Sadly that's the direction Britain wants to go with its society.  The States are not far behind either, but a mass proliferation of CCTV has yet to be a nationwide thing.

I understand the reasons for having these systems in place especially in this day and age, but as with any government related initiative there's huge potential for abuse and excess.  Using the fear against the citizenry allows them to overextend their reach eroding our expectations of privacy.  These cameras will never go away, I'm not as naive to believe that.  We do need to closely watch why and where they are being deployed.  Pushing back when security is no longer the objective.

Reading that article reminds me of some posters I saw underneath an overpass while walking to the BBC.

1984 is here, slipping in quietly while no one was looking.

 

-------------------------------------

Another good article about CCTV

Super Geek Anime Fan Service

Creativity is an interesting thing. Sometimes you end up with something that pushes boundaries, reinvents a genre, or just makes people think. In a few rare instances something is created that so encapsulates a mind set that you can't think of anything that would top it.

Back in 2006 a video came out called Pirate Baby's Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006 by Paul Robertson (alternate link in case Wikipedia gets bitchy). Originally shown at an Australian film festival it soon spread like wildfire across the Internet. It distilled the essence of a side scrolling fighting game with an old school flair so perfectly that it immediately became a cult hit. Anyone I showed this to was not only floored by the over the top nature, but amazed by how complex it was. It felt as if the creator had channeled the secret desires of various subcultures into a visual explosion of pure Id.

Fast forward 2 years to Paul's latest video Kings of Power 4 Billion %. This film could easily be considered Paul's magnum opus. The following equation should give you a good idea of what's in it:

Geek + Anime(Fan Service + Otaku + Ultra Violence) + Video Games(Side Scroller + Run and Gun + Fighting Game) + Electronica = AWESOME

With a seizure inducing array of effects, music reminiscent of 70's cheesy sci-fi and more references than you can shake a stick at this 13 minute story keeps a frantic pace. Now in color (as opposed to the B&W Pirate Baby) it tells the tale of global invasion and the team of heroes destined to defend the world. It's cliched to say, but words alone cannot describe it. You really must see this to believe it.

All flavors of geek will enjoy something different in it. Those not partaking of the geekdom might enjoy it as well or find it utterly unwatchable. Of course only an extreme level of obsession could produce this, but no matter what your opinion the raw creativity displayed in this work is undeniable.

Mitzvah

My girl did something really wonderful, she helped someone achieve their dream.  This all started last week while surfing a model networking site.  She came across an ad requesting a model for a show.  Upon further review she saw that it was for a makeup artist entering a contest to win a scholarship to the local Aveda Institute.  His portfolio wasn't as extensive as other makeup artists, but his talent was undeniable especially since he is also a female impersonator.  The transformation in his pictures was nothing short of stunning.  She corresponded with him via email, moved to a phone conversation and then agreed to help.

Over the weekend Ron swung by our place to chat with her and fit her for a dress he was making.  Even though Aveda is a hair and makeup school, he was going all out and styling her from head to toe.  Just seeing the initial scribbling's of the pattern were enough to excite her about the show.  They discussed music for the walk, shoes and all the other little details needed to complete the experience.  Once done he raced off to start his work.

Yesterday (Tues) was the day.  He picked her up early and then whisked her away to be his Barbie girl.  I was at a Microsoft event for most of the day preventing me from enjoying any behind the scenes fun, but made it to the show early so I could snag a good seat.  I gave her a quick ring to let her know I was there and she let me know that his mom was also in the audience.  I found her quickly, introduced myself and we chatted while waiting for it to start. 

There were 8 finalists each with their own model (some were family, some were friends).  They started by putting a "before" pic of the model up on a LCD screen with the name of the contestant, the music kicked on and the fully styled model popped on stage from behind a curtain.  Some of them had choreographed routines, others just made one lap of the runway.  They were all very creative with wildly divergent styles.  One did a 50's number, another went for punk/alt, there was a wedding themed one, a couple of bland ones and a Hindu goddess/belly dancer motif entry. 

My girl's was straight up haute couture fashion.  She was the only professional model there and it showed.  I freely admit to being biased, but she rocked the hell out of that runway, music thumping ("Let Me Think About It" Ida Corr vs Fedde Le Grand), fishnets, sweet shoes and a phenomenal dress.  When the judges were doing their Q&A with Ron they all gushed about how beautiful the dress was and how great the model looked.  One judge asked if she could have him make her a dress. Even though there wasn't any scoring, it was all 10's from what I could see.

The models and contestants made one last pass and then the judges went to deliberate.  It didn't take them long to decide.  Even the MC who had been putting these shows together for the past 4 years was surprised as to how quickly they came back.  They kept the suspense building with their obligatory "this was a hard decision, everyone's a winner" speech, but in the end they chose our guy =)

The moment his name was announced I shot up applauding and hollering like a mad man.  Ra jumped up and down like she had been the winner, hugging Ron who was dumbfounded.  Working on something so diligently you always want to succeed, but having it actually happen can still be shocking.  The poor boy was almost rendered mute, making his acceptance speech rather short.  The MC said her final words, thanking all that participated then the crowd slowly dispersed.  Ron's parents (dad made it a little later, but still before Ron's part) congratulated him along with a stream of Aveda people who had been watching the show. 

Now he will look forward to starting school in May.  The value of the scholarship is pegged at seventeen thousand dollars making this truly an opportunity of a lifetime for him.  Some of the Aveda folks asked Ra about her involvement and she admitted to only having met him the week before thru the model site.  The dropped jaws littered the floor.  They couldn't believe that happenstance led Ron to the model that would help him win.  One of the girl's told her "You were put in his path for a reason".

Thinking back to that comment it is incredible the way life works sometimes.  Ra was able to help someone achieve a lifelong dream just by being her good hearted self and lending her talents for a couple of hours.  It was truly an amazing experience helping bring that kind of joy to one person's life.

And behind today's showcase is... A NEW CAR!!!

I finally bit the bullet and bought a new car.  Since coming back to the States we've been doing the rental thing.  In my infinite wisdom I thought it was a good idea to sell our car (NOT!) before going to the UK, something along the lines of having more cash to start our new life, no need for a car in London, blah blah blah.  I will freely admit that it was a stupid fucking mistake. Anyways...

In our attempt to minimize cost we looked at the budget/small car range: Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, etc.  After a couple of test drives we settled on the Nissan Versa HB.  Out of all the cars it was the most fun to drive and gave the most bang for your buck. 

Buying a car these days is just painful.  Since I already knew what I wanted, I called dealerships in the area to compare pricing.  5 long hours later...  It was ridiculous some of the tactics I experienced.  1 dealership didn't call me back, 2 dealerships refused to give me prices over the phone, and another tried to pull a bait and switch in order to get me down to their lot.  Out of the 6 I called, only 2 were nice.  One of the two nice ones was the place I originally test drove it at and thankfully ended up having the best pricing.

So on Monday I get to pick up my shiny new wagon.  It will look something like this -

Beep! Beep!

Rick Rolls

For as long as I've been surfing the Net I'm still surprised by some of the things that gain popularity.  One such thing is the Rick Roll.  The concept behind it is simple.  Post or share a link with others that's supposed to be related to a topic being discussed.  When the others go to click the link they are instead directed to a video of Rick Astley's music video for his song "Never Gonna Give You Up". 

Sending out false links is nothing new, but this particular one has reached insane levels of popularity.  This past April Fool's day was saturated with Rick Rolls.   I soon realized I had been Rick Rolled via the TV with the Family Guy episode "Meet the Quagmires".  Of all the recent Internet meme's this one has exploded off the Net and into the real world.

What led me to write a post was this latest Rick Roll.  Creative, funny and unexpected I think this is one of the best ones out there.

Old Friends, Good Times

My last night in London was not what I had originally planned.  My girl had left a couple of nights earlier, leaving me in an empty hotel room waiting to go home.  "Low key" was the theme as my project wrapped up and I was going to have everything ready for my 11:30 am flight the next day.  This did not happen.

In one of those "small world" moments, I found out that my friend Jorge from middle school whom I haven't seen in around 10 years was in London for business as well.  Friday night was the only night he had free and the last night I was there, so we decided to meet up.  Someone had recommended he hit one restaurant above all others while in London.  Thankfully their suggestion was Wagamama, one of my favorite places to eat in the UK (why is Boston their only US location!?!?)  Sitting down to piping hot plates of Chicken Chilli Men, Wagamama Ramen and a large hot sake we began to catch up a decade's worth of life.

With my constant traveling while growing up and also professionally, it's difficult to keep friends for any long period of time.  The few I have history with I try my damndest to keep in touch.  Most periods of my life can be defined by the one or two good friends I had.  In middle school it was Jorge and Ben.  We were the three musketeers back then, but as growing up has a tendency of doing, everything changed when we hit high school.  We all went to separate places, found new friends and generally did a poor job of keeping in contact, which is to be expected at that age.  Throw in a change of geographic location and you have a recipe for lost ties.  Through the magic of the Internet and social networking sites, we've found each other 10 years later and as grown ass men. 

It was good seeing my buddy.  It gave me a sense of history that I rarely have.  Finding someone who knows me from an earlier time is difficult, but when I do it lets me look at a snapshot of who I was at one point.  Leading a gypsy lifestyle is exciting, but when it comes to roots its as they say "a rolling stone gathers no moss". 

The dinner was great (as per usual) and we migrated to a local pub.  We chatted some more, had our mandatory pints of Guinness and would have called it a night if it weren't for that last round.  As senor Jorge went to make beer into water, I ordered what was supposed to be our last drinks of the night.  At this point most of the patrons are quite sloshed, so I had to squeeze through drunken bastards to make it to the bar.  Once there I bump into an unusually friendly group.  One small Asian man with flamboyant tendencies and his two what appeared to be Indian lady friends.  We made the "ordering drinks" small talk.. how's your night going, yada yada yada, ok I got my beer bye.

I meandered to an unoccupied wall, leaned back and waited for Jorge to return.  When he did, alcohol was distributed and we began to enjoy our "last drink" of the night.  Many comments were exchanged regarding the soused clientele, jokes were enjoyed, things were wrapping up nicely.  Then the friendly group walks by on their way out.  As they do, mister flamboyant comes up to give me a high five like we're old drinking buddies.  He was amusing to say the least, so I accepted the high five and we all begin to chat.  Seems my earlier assessment wasn't entirely true.  Yes the little Asian dude was Asian and flamboyant but his compatriots were not Indian (dark skin and features tend to steer me that way).  One was from Australia (with a thick Crocodile Dundee accent) and the other was from Belize (fluent in Spanish).  They were headed to a nearby club, were on the guest list and wanted to know if we would join them.  They seemed cool so Jorge and I decided to tag along.  We chatted some more as we walked while the little dude acted like a hyperactive gerbil on speed, jumping from place to place, swinging on light posts and being as light in the loafers as he could.  We get to the club and find out their coolness wasn't as far reaching as they let on.  They were indeed on the guest list, but had no +1's to share.  The bouncer then told us there was a 20 quid cover charge.  We said "yeah right" and skeedadled.

What sucked was that we were originally winding down to go back to our hotels, then got all wound up again about hitting a club with false promises of free entry.  Taking matters into our own hands, we jump into a black cab demanding he take us to the nearest hot spot.  That's how we landed at Tiger Tiger.  The term "meat market" was specifically coined for places like this.  Banging music, massive bars, slammed with people.  We upgrade our Guinness' for Jack & Coke (me) and Gin & Seltzer (him).  The place was huge with three floors and lots of side rooms.  As an impartial observer it was an amazing example of human interaction, but for someone who has to navigate it for prey I can only imagine the obscene amounts of bullshit that need to be endured.

We navigated the labyrinth, swimming between music genres.  Some places sporting a good vibe and others reeking of desperation.  Thankfully due to England's smoking ban all reeking was metaphorical and not actual.  I thoroughly enjoy going out without the tobacco ass smell afterwards.  Eventually we get bored and hungry, making our exit into the busy streets of London.  Our immediate goal was to find a Kebab shop.  Many passersby were queried for their knowledge of local food vendors.  Many passersby were stinking drunk.  We changed tactics hitting up rickshaw drivers with slightly more success.  Since neither of us knew London very well there was a lot of wandering involved in our quest.  As time passed another immediate need became apparent, a toilet.  Every place we went to involved a ridiculous cover.  Finally we find a punk bar (no joke) and shuffle in for much needed relief.  Piercings, tattoos, liberty spikes, mohawks and great music filled this little hallway of a club.  Jorge scouted out the facilities while I acquired our next round.  Out of all the places we had been to that night, I found the freaks to be the most friendly.  Which is especially surprising if you take into account the fact that we were both dressed in business casual with long black coats which is about as square as you can be in one of these joints.  Bladders were quickly emptied and then refilled.  We say our goodbyes continuing the search for kebabs.  Through dumb luck we stumble upon a fine vendor of grilled meats.  Late night drinking munchies in the States are usually Denny's, IHOP, Waffle House, the occasional Jack in the Box or 24 hour Taco Bell, but in the UK it's the kebab shop.  There really is nothing else available, but thankfully they tend to be really really good.

We order our pita wrapped morsels, scarfing them down in record time.  At this point we realize not only is it much later than expected (2am-ish), but that we're not as young as we used to be.  The wave of tired hits us both squarely in the face.  Taxi's were hailed, directions mumbled and our festivities came to an end. 

All in all it was a great night with an old friend.  Moments like those don't happen often for me.  Hopefully we'll meet up again (possibly in the States) for another night of merriment.  If the stars are in alignment, sacrifices made and the groundhog hasn't see his shadow maybe Ben will make it out to join us too.  A three musketeers reunion would be a great thing indeed.

Learning something new…

I'm not a math wiz or an economics expert by any stretch. I'm interested in current monetary issues because it affects me directly and I find economic systems intriguing. My overseas travel has made me keenly aware of currency valuations and the factors that cause them to fluctuate. Extrapolating from that starting point, I've begun digging deeper into world markets. To keep a narrow focus on your home country as the only means of monetary enrichment limits your growth. It also fails to take into account emerging markets from up and coming countries that finally got their act together. I'm not planning on playing global stock markets or invest in offshore real estate, but I'm always looking to expand my knowledge of the world. As the saying goes "chance favors the prepared".

In my research I've come across a fascinating blog - Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis. It deals with complex global issues in plain language that’s easy to follow. Since it's a personal blog there is opinion thrown into the mix, but overall I found it to be more about dollars and cents than a particular bias.

Two posts in particular were really eye opening from a local and global perspective. The first, "The Business of Walking Away" takes the current trend of consumers walking away from their mortgages and shows how businesses are doing the same. The second, "Things that 'Can't' Happen" goes into how firmly held "truths" are collapsing in the current economic climate.

Hopefully you'll find this as useful as I have.

Here I go again on my own

Keeping up a blog has never been my forte.  I was doing alright on MySpace but then that site began to suck so I jumped ship to Facebook.  The former has the better blogging capabilities, but the later was the more interesting social network.  Instead of trying to keep both updated I'm going with a third option, external blog site.  I finally finished a journal (wrote in it cover to cover) so if I can surmount that hurdle I should be able to stick with this.

In all honesty, writing is something I love yet recently I've left no time to engage in it.  Multiple attempts at NaNoWriMo ended in failure simply because I didn't allot the necessary time.  Time has always been a tricky thing for me, but especially these last two years.  I'm looking to change that in the very near future.  Until then I will try to squeeze in the odd post or two.