The new house is coming along, we close next Wednesday, but in the meantime I've had some obligatory appliance shopping to get a refrigerator, washer and dryer, all of which were necessary since it's a new house.
When buying big-ticket items, it always pays to check reviews and to take into account quality and value, at least as much as you take price into consideration. Finding reviews of tech items is usually fairly simple in this electronic age, everyone has an opinion, and usually you can find a fair share of objective ones. But appliances still tend to be trapped in a previous era, as what are touted as "online reviews" tend to be nothing more than an online complaint department.
Herein lies the problem: people who have issues are exponentially more likely to write a "review" than those who are completely satisfied with their products. Given a large enough sample of reviews, I tend to relate it to about a 5:1 ratio of poor reviews to good reviews -- for every 5 customers complaining, there is 1 customer praising. If the actual results are skewed one way or another, then I consider that a significant trend. If I go online and see 12 reviews, 10 of which are complaints, and 2 of which are praising the product, then I consider it a wash and there's probably no *real* widespread problem with the product or the manufacturer.
It's just difficult to sort it all out sometime, especially when the overally quantity is so few. I was looking for reviews on a GE refrigerator I was looking at, found about 6 reviews over the course of 2 years, all of which were negative, usually with comments to the effect of "GE sucks, never buy from GE again." I think I'd give them a bit more weight if the review was more subjective, but it was nothing but people who no doubt has legitimate problems with their fridges, and probably had bad experiences getting their problems resolved, but then trying to generalize to all products that was the case. I consider GE probably sells tens-of-thousands of refrigerators each year, and only 6 complaints over 2 years? Doesn't seem significant to me.
I have found that there are reliable, and objective, reviews and comparisons out there to be seen. Magazines such as Consumer Reports, or various online websites that really ask the right questions (pros/cons of various models, issues, etc.) Certainly there are some brands that tend to be more reliable than others, but I guess I'll just make it up as I go and hope what I want actually works.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Saturday, January 12, 2008
House Hunting Adventures
I've been a bit out of touch these past couple of weeks, because things have been a bit busy. Most know by now that I've been looking to buy a house, and for those who have been through the process, you can probably sympathize, but for those who haven't yet, it's far more work than you'd think.
So I had my ideal vision of what I was looking for in a house. Simple to explain, hard to find, and after seeing countless places that were "close but not quite", or "something's just not right", or "if only it had x", I finally found a place that fit exactly all of the things I was looking for. Problem was, it wasn't what I wanted afterall. So I decided to take a look at some places I had previously dismissed because they weren't what I thought I wanted.
And lo and behold, but two days later, what everyone told me would happen finally happened. I walked into the place and immediately thought, "This is it!"
Less then a week later... drumroll please....
... I bought a house!
So I had my ideal vision of what I was looking for in a house. Simple to explain, hard to find, and after seeing countless places that were "close but not quite", or "something's just not right", or "if only it had x", I finally found a place that fit exactly all of the things I was looking for. Problem was, it wasn't what I wanted afterall. So I decided to take a look at some places I had previously dismissed because they weren't what I thought I wanted.
And lo and behold, but two days later, what everyone told me would happen finally happened. I walked into the place and immediately thought, "This is it!"
Less then a week later... drumroll please....
... I bought a house!
It's located just off 175th in Shoreline, in the North City neighborhood. Location had as much to do with my decision as the place itself... conveniently located to the freeway, still not too far from work, right on the bus line to go downtown, Safeway is just 3 blocks away, and plenty of other stuff around. For those who want some stats on it:
1710 sqft. + 2-car garage (one of my requirements).
3 bedrooms (plenty of guest space...)
3.5 bathrooms (what do I need 3.5 bathrooms for? why not?)
brand new construction, just finished in December
semi-attached townhouse (yes, those of you who knew my original requirements would know that I swore off townhouses, but as soon as you go inside, you'd never know this was a townhouse. I decided that was OK afterall.)
I have some pictures online in my photo album. We close the end of the month, and I'll be moving throughout the month of February. In the meantime, trying to coordinate all that is involved in buying a house, I think I've been on the phone more in the past week than in the past 2 months.
Eventually we'll return you to your regularly scheduled blogs.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Back Links
The following blogs or web pages have linked back to previous blog entries on Universe of Synergy:
- Marty Sklar on the Imagineering of Music [The Disney Blog - May 25, 2007]
- GamePlan Marketing News [GamePlan - Jul 21, 2007]
- About Last Night: Two HBO Series Reach Climax [Film.com - Nov 12, 2007]
Monday, December 31, 2007
Holiday Madness
I appear to have been in another of my predictable blog droughts. It's not that there hasn't been enough going on, in this case there's probably been too much going on. As a result, this blog is brought to you by Google Calendar: "The only way to know what all you did the past month!"
- Went to two musicals plus the Seattle Symphony's holiday pops concert. All of which deserve their own reviews, but may or may not get them. We'll see how much time I make for them today.
- Lots of curling, culminating with a break from actually curling, only to be the head official for the state junior curling championships this past weekend. Being both competent and willing to volunteer is a dangerous combination. Tiring but a lot of fun.
- Started the process of looking for a house. I'm sick of my apartment, and after waiting for a year or so until the market is finally right, it's time to buy a house. Now I just have to find the right place. Once the new year starts, it should be prime time for people to start selling decent places again... I hope.
- Christmas came and went, and New Year's is here. I don't think I really realized Christmas was coming until about the Friday before. Things have been a bit hectic.
- How can I forget how this all started? The day I got home from vacation in Hawaii (well, actually the day before I got back to work), my company decided to lay off 18 people, including half of my team. I was spared, but half of my friends and coworkers were told their last day was December 12th. It's made for quite the uninspiring holidays around the office. Fortunately a few of us insisted on making things a bit cheerier and helped decorate the office for the holidays. I strung my customarily tacky Christmas, er, Secular Festive Non-Denominational Culturally-Inclusive Wintertime Holiday Lights, throughout my aisle of cubes and from the ceiling and all. It was quite nice. Regardless, unless things drastically change around work, 2008 may become time to look for a new place to work.
- And yes, I know I'm behind on Amazing Race episode blogs. Legs 6, 7, and 8 are all on my DVR waiting to be watched, I've just had more important things to do. At least this way I can just sit down and watch them all at once one of these days.
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
AR12 - Leg 5 - Counting Gnomes
7 teams remain, who will be eliminated next?
Off to Vilnius, Lithuania. The biggest question I have is will the two teams with their photo-finish at the end of the last leg team up and work together, or will they continue as adversaries. Hard to say.
Observation of the night #1: is it really that hard to pronounce "VILNIUS"? I think it's pretty much as it's spelled, nothing to funny there.
It's reaching the point in the race where the energy has worn off and now the teams will start to get sick of each other.
Who would have thought getting airline tickets would be such an ordeal. The conclusion I have come to is to always have your tickets before you leave. :) It's officially 20 minutes into the episode and no team has yet made it to the airport. This isn't much of a race. 3 different flights with 3, 3, and 1 team respectively. Now it might get interesting.
Team Tacoma took the gamble and were the only team flying through Prague... good gamble I think, they easily could have come out ahead with that one, but in this case it didn't work, and they have ended up in last.
Roadblock... deliver the package, deliver another package, get a clue. This is the kind of roadblock I like, it's entertaining watching them find it, yet not frustratingly complicated. Team Tacoma gains huge time by completing the roadblock and are back in 3rd place.
Oh, the blondes' car nearly gets t-boned by a tour bus. Classic. DC1 is about to kill each other. Also classic.
THE ROAMING GNOME IS BACK! How exciting! I have my Travelocity Roaming Gnome sitting on my bookshelf in my living room. I love the gnome. Sure it's gratuitous corporate sponsorship, but man that gnome is cool.
Detour: Count Down or Step Up. Count the pickets in a picket fence, or walk on stilts down a path. Counting pickets would be easy, except that they put all kinds of distractions along the fence they needed to ignore along with it... and there were 717 pickets. Too funny.
Andrew apparently speaks gnoma and has translated the Travel Gnome's travel myths for us...
travel myth #122: 7 teams of two cannot find flights to lithuania
travel myth #42: blondes do have more fun... and count really well
travel myth #49: men with hernias cannot walk on stilts
travel myth #78: anyone can find their way to the university square in a foreign country
travel myth #460: lithuanians don't have forks larger than their heads
travel myth #45: the last one to the carpet is given a reprieve
TK and Rachel, the Newlydaters make their first appearance as Team #1. The Goths finish closely behind at #2. Tacoma finished 3rd. Siblings 4th. DC1 5th. Gramps comes in 6th. The blondes are the last to arrive and are eliminated.
It's getting exciting again. We're down to 6 teams. This was one of those episodes that made me want to go on the Amazing Race because it looked like so much fun. Until next week...
Off to Vilnius, Lithuania. The biggest question I have is will the two teams with their photo-finish at the end of the last leg team up and work together, or will they continue as adversaries. Hard to say.
Observation of the night #1: is it really that hard to pronounce "VILNIUS"? I think it's pretty much as it's spelled, nothing to funny there.
It's reaching the point in the race where the energy has worn off and now the teams will start to get sick of each other.
Who would have thought getting airline tickets would be such an ordeal. The conclusion I have come to is to always have your tickets before you leave. :) It's officially 20 minutes into the episode and no team has yet made it to the airport. This isn't much of a race. 3 different flights with 3, 3, and 1 team respectively. Now it might get interesting.
Team Tacoma took the gamble and were the only team flying through Prague... good gamble I think, they easily could have come out ahead with that one, but in this case it didn't work, and they have ended up in last.
Roadblock... deliver the package, deliver another package, get a clue. This is the kind of roadblock I like, it's entertaining watching them find it, yet not frustratingly complicated. Team Tacoma gains huge time by completing the roadblock and are back in 3rd place.
Oh, the blondes' car nearly gets t-boned by a tour bus. Classic. DC1 is about to kill each other. Also classic.
THE ROAMING GNOME IS BACK! How exciting! I have my Travelocity Roaming Gnome sitting on my bookshelf in my living room. I love the gnome. Sure it's gratuitous corporate sponsorship, but man that gnome is cool.
Detour: Count Down or Step Up. Count the pickets in a picket fence, or walk on stilts down a path. Counting pickets would be easy, except that they put all kinds of distractions along the fence they needed to ignore along with it... and there were 717 pickets. Too funny.
Andrew apparently speaks gnoma and has translated the Travel Gnome's travel myths for us...
travel myth #122: 7 teams of two cannot find flights to lithuania
travel myth #42: blondes do have more fun... and count really well
travel myth #49: men with hernias cannot walk on stilts
travel myth #78: anyone can find their way to the university square in a foreign country
travel myth #460: lithuanians don't have forks larger than their heads
travel myth #45: the last one to the carpet is given a reprieve
TK and Rachel, the Newlydaters make their first appearance as Team #1. The Goths finish closely behind at #2. Tacoma finished 3rd. Siblings 4th. DC1 5th. Gramps comes in 6th. The blondes are the last to arrive and are eliminated.
It's getting exciting again. We're down to 6 teams. This was one of those episodes that made me want to go on the Amazing Race because it looked like so much fun. Until next week...
Monday, December 03, 2007
Aloha Huskies
As expected (at least by me, considering the rest of the season) the Huskies lost. I was prepared for this, and don't mind losing when you're outplayed, but when you get screwed by bad calls, I am less pleased.
But that's the short of the story, the rest of the story begins now...
We met up with about 20 of Amy's friends in 6 cars in the parking lot of an old Costco near Aloha Stadium to carpool over to the stadium for tailgating around 6 hours before the game started. Tailgating is hard work. Fortunately, they were all fully prepared with plenty of food and drink and it was a good time. Once we finally got situated in the stadium parking lot, it was more like 4 hours to game time, which wasn't so bad. I was pretty impressed with the Hawaii tailgaters, though I must admit it was a bit of a step below the supreme tailgating that the fans at Husky Stadium provide every week.
Fast forward to game time, we made our way into the stadium and found our seats. I had gotten my tickets through the UW so had pretty good seats in the 3rd row in the upper deck right on the goal line, though most of Amy's friends had tickets in various sections in the lower deck of the end zone. I must say, it was a refreshing change to actually see the game from above, it was amazing how much you can actually see the plays and what's happening. I've become so used to watching games from the bottom 10 rows or so of every stadium, which usually involves watching the games on the big screen, rather than the actual players on the field. The nice thing was that Aloha Stadium only holds 50,000, and the upper deck isn't nearly as high as, say, Husky Stadium, so our seats were remarkably close to the field and easy to see what was going on. Added advantage was the overhang over the upper deck, which just stretched to about the 2nd row. Thank goodness for that, as at the end of the first half the skies opened up with a brief downpour, which we observed from our safe and dry seats.
The game itself needs no further commentary. After an exciting and promising 21-0 first quarter score, things made their way back downhill and the referees failed to be of any assistance (at least not to the Dawgs).
After the game we went to a local sports bar back near Waikiki and got some food before everyone basically was falling asleep and headed back home. I think I made it to bed by somewhere close to 2am, and managed to sleep until about 11:30am.
Sunday was a bit more relaxed, as I decided to go off on my own and do some sightseeing and drove up Tantalus Drive as high as I could go above Honolulu. There'll be some pictures sooner or later when I get them posted. I also walked down to the beach and wandered around Waikiki, though wasn't too impressed with it all. It was still nice, when I wasn't caught in the occasional downpour.
Tonight for dinner, about 10 of us went to a Japanese-style barbeque where you cook your own food at the table and such. It was pretty fun, though I must say a bit of a novelty and far too much work just to eat. :) However, it was darn tasty.
After that the real excitement happened as we went to a local karaoke bar. It is times like this when my sister makes me proud. So this bar is obviously a hangout for the locals, and Amy decides that she's going to win them over by singing a Hawaiian song. She proceeds to sing (very well, I might add) some Hawaiian favorite, and indeed wins over the crows with quite a glowing response. It is at this point she screams out a "Go Huskies!" immediately negating everything she had just achieved. She was instantly booed and heckled. That's my sister. It took her at least another half hour to work over the locals and convince them she wasn't so bad. :) She did a good job, but all of us wouldn't let her off the hook as easily as they did. It was a classic moment.
I proceeded to be the designated driver for three inebriated and loud fools, one of whom was my sister, back to the hotel, where they wandered over next door to continue celebrating the last night here. I had had enough and now am here relaxing and catching up on some blogging. Tomorrow we head home... and it's about time to leave the world of vacation, but I'm not entirely sure I'm ready to return to the real world of work. More on that later.
But that's the short of the story, the rest of the story begins now...
We met up with about 20 of Amy's friends in 6 cars in the parking lot of an old Costco near Aloha Stadium to carpool over to the stadium for tailgating around 6 hours before the game started. Tailgating is hard work. Fortunately, they were all fully prepared with plenty of food and drink and it was a good time. Once we finally got situated in the stadium parking lot, it was more like 4 hours to game time, which wasn't so bad. I was pretty impressed with the Hawaii tailgaters, though I must admit it was a bit of a step below the supreme tailgating that the fans at Husky Stadium provide every week.
Fast forward to game time, we made our way into the stadium and found our seats. I had gotten my tickets through the UW so had pretty good seats in the 3rd row in the upper deck right on the goal line, though most of Amy's friends had tickets in various sections in the lower deck of the end zone. I must say, it was a refreshing change to actually see the game from above, it was amazing how much you can actually see the plays and what's happening. I've become so used to watching games from the bottom 10 rows or so of every stadium, which usually involves watching the games on the big screen, rather than the actual players on the field. The nice thing was that Aloha Stadium only holds 50,000, and the upper deck isn't nearly as high as, say, Husky Stadium, so our seats were remarkably close to the field and easy to see what was going on. Added advantage was the overhang over the upper deck, which just stretched to about the 2nd row. Thank goodness for that, as at the end of the first half the skies opened up with a brief downpour, which we observed from our safe and dry seats.
The game itself needs no further commentary. After an exciting and promising 21-0 first quarter score, things made their way back downhill and the referees failed to be of any assistance (at least not to the Dawgs).
After the game we went to a local sports bar back near Waikiki and got some food before everyone basically was falling asleep and headed back home. I think I made it to bed by somewhere close to 2am, and managed to sleep until about 11:30am.
Sunday was a bit more relaxed, as I decided to go off on my own and do some sightseeing and drove up Tantalus Drive as high as I could go above Honolulu. There'll be some pictures sooner or later when I get them posted. I also walked down to the beach and wandered around Waikiki, though wasn't too impressed with it all. It was still nice, when I wasn't caught in the occasional downpour.
Tonight for dinner, about 10 of us went to a Japanese-style barbeque where you cook your own food at the table and such. It was pretty fun, though I must say a bit of a novelty and far too much work just to eat. :) However, it was darn tasty.
After that the real excitement happened as we went to a local karaoke bar. It is times like this when my sister makes me proud. So this bar is obviously a hangout for the locals, and Amy decides that she's going to win them over by singing a Hawaiian song. She proceeds to sing (very well, I might add) some Hawaiian favorite, and indeed wins over the crows with quite a glowing response. It is at this point she screams out a "Go Huskies!" immediately negating everything she had just achieved. She was instantly booed and heckled. That's my sister. It took her at least another half hour to work over the locals and convince them she wasn't so bad. :) She did a good job, but all of us wouldn't let her off the hook as easily as they did. It was a classic moment.
I proceeded to be the designated driver for three inebriated and loud fools, one of whom was my sister, back to the hotel, where they wandered over next door to continue celebrating the last night here. I had had enough and now am here relaxing and catching up on some blogging. Tomorrow we head home... and it's about time to leave the world of vacation, but I'm not entirely sure I'm ready to return to the real world of work. More on that later.
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Aloha
I guess I should blog a bit on my current vacation to Hawaii. For those not privy to the story, I'm down here for the UW vs. Hawaii football game that will take place tomorrow evening. I took advantage of Alaska Airlines's introductory fares a few months back when they started new service to Honolulu from Seattle... for a little over $200 round trip, it's hard to say no.
Thursday morning we went to the airport to fly to Hawaii. I must say, I was surprised how many Dawg fans were at the airport. Apparently the lack of any bowl games the past few years has a lot of the die-hard fans ready to take anything they can get, even if it's an end-of-season game against Hawaii. We had probably at least 20 on our flight who were "obviously" going to the game, and probably others who weren't so apparent.
The flight was rather uneventful. I guess it went by pretty fast, but I wasn't the most comfortable, and started to get a bit of a headache by the end of the flight which didn't help matters. The plane was very nice and new (probably one of the newest Alaska Airlines planes I've ever flown on), but still was just a single-aisle 3-by-3 plane, that doesn't really scream "sure, take a 6 hour flight in this aluminum tube". Either way, it wasn't so bad.
We made our way to Honolulu, and as I stepped off the plane, didn't notice the heat so much as the humidity. Temperatures were probably in the low 80's, but humidity about 80%... suprisingly tolerable. I've determined that humidity is fine, as long as it isn't accompanied by blazing high heat. We got the rental car and headed to the hotel in Waikiki.
We were all hungry (myself, my sister and her friend), and were wanting some food. I figured we could just go to the hotel and then find something from there, but Amy insisted on finding a Zippy's and getting "real" food. After winding through the tangles of streets that they call Honolulu, we finally got to it and had food. Food good. I approve.
After making it to the hotel, the rest of Thursday was pretty uneventful, besides the obligatory post-flight nap time. Our hotel, the Aqua Waikiki Wave, is not glamorous, but it's big and right in the middle of everything. It's right behind the International Marketplace, and well located to just about anything you could ever want. We explored a bit, before we went to dinner with some of Amy's friends at Angelo Pietros, what I would describe as the closest thing you can get to an Asian Italian restaurant. It was mainly pizza and pasta, though the pasta definitely had an Asian flair to it, rather than being strictly Italian. I had spaghetti with clams, and it was, however, very good eats. After that Amy's Hawaiian friends all started showing up in droves as we spent a few hours at Senor Frogs. (Well, *they* spent a few more hours than I did, but that's besides the point. Fortunately it's only 3 blocks from our hotel, and I could just walk back when I got sick of them all. :))
Friday morning, Amy slept, as expected. I got up and drove out to the USS Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor. I'd been there the last time I was in Hawaii, which was nearly 15 years ago, and wanted to check it out again. It hasn't changed much in 15 years. In fact, I decided not to wait the hour delay before I could take the boat out to the memorial, and decided to just head back. I stopped at Hilo Hatties for my fix of random Hawaiian junk and souveniers before swinging back by the hotel to pick up Amy who was finally up and ready to go. We got lunch at Bubba Gump's at the Ala Moana mall... I had probably some of the best fish and chips (mahi mahi) I have ever had. Food good. I still approve. We then went back to the hotel to rest for a few hours, and eventually get ready for the evening's dinner and festivities.
Long background story shortened to a few sentences... my sister Amy got really involved with the Hawaiian crowd when she was at the UW, so she has about 20 friends from Hawaii, half of which have since graduating moved back to the islands. This UW/Hawaii football game has sort of become a UW reunion for a lot of them, so it's been pretty well planned full of group events. Not a bad thing, I get to tag along and enjoy it. I actually have met most all of her friends before at various times in the past, though don't ask me to match faces to names for most of them. :)
So we went to this dinner that they had organized at the Natsunoya Tea House, which is apparently a long-standing institution in Honolulu, for a full Japanese dinner with tons of tasty food. There were 22 of us having this full family-style feast. It was tasty... mostly. :) More good food. Yet again, I approve.
Closing the evening was planned karaoke. I disapprove. I wasn't going to go, but I did for a bit. It was painful... painfully boring. Is it just me who does not understand the appeal of karaoke in the slightest. I don't really want to hear people sing bad versions of good songs. I think it would have been more fun if it were my friends, rather than 20 of Amy's friends, most of whom I don't know very well. I made the most of it for an hour or so, before leaving to head back to the hotel. Fortunately with enough of her friends, Amy can get a ride back on her own.
Waikiki is abuzz tonight, as I attempted to park in this micro-sized hotel parking garage which was completely full. I had to park in the garage on the next street over, which was sufficiently a pain in the neck, and about 20 minutes that really started to make me grumpy at 12:00am when I just want to get back to my hotel room and relax and sleep. But I finally made it back, found time to blog a bit, and now it's time for bed. This vacation is going to seriously mess with my internal clock, I say.
Tomorrow is the big game, much pre-game tailgating is planned, so it should be good times. But I should be awake for that, and that won't happen unless I sleep now. More tomorrow.
Thursday morning we went to the airport to fly to Hawaii. I must say, I was surprised how many Dawg fans were at the airport. Apparently the lack of any bowl games the past few years has a lot of the die-hard fans ready to take anything they can get, even if it's an end-of-season game against Hawaii. We had probably at least 20 on our flight who were "obviously" going to the game, and probably others who weren't so apparent.
The flight was rather uneventful. I guess it went by pretty fast, but I wasn't the most comfortable, and started to get a bit of a headache by the end of the flight which didn't help matters. The plane was very nice and new (probably one of the newest Alaska Airlines planes I've ever flown on), but still was just a single-aisle 3-by-3 plane, that doesn't really scream "sure, take a 6 hour flight in this aluminum tube". Either way, it wasn't so bad.
We made our way to Honolulu, and as I stepped off the plane, didn't notice the heat so much as the humidity. Temperatures were probably in the low 80's, but humidity about 80%... suprisingly tolerable. I've determined that humidity is fine, as long as it isn't accompanied by blazing high heat. We got the rental car and headed to the hotel in Waikiki.
We were all hungry (myself, my sister and her friend), and were wanting some food. I figured we could just go to the hotel and then find something from there, but Amy insisted on finding a Zippy's and getting "real" food. After winding through the tangles of streets that they call Honolulu, we finally got to it and had food. Food good. I approve.
After making it to the hotel, the rest of Thursday was pretty uneventful, besides the obligatory post-flight nap time. Our hotel, the Aqua Waikiki Wave, is not glamorous, but it's big and right in the middle of everything. It's right behind the International Marketplace, and well located to just about anything you could ever want. We explored a bit, before we went to dinner with some of Amy's friends at Angelo Pietros, what I would describe as the closest thing you can get to an Asian Italian restaurant. It was mainly pizza and pasta, though the pasta definitely had an Asian flair to it, rather than being strictly Italian. I had spaghetti with clams, and it was, however, very good eats. After that Amy's Hawaiian friends all started showing up in droves as we spent a few hours at Senor Frogs. (Well, *they* spent a few more hours than I did, but that's besides the point. Fortunately it's only 3 blocks from our hotel, and I could just walk back when I got sick of them all. :))
Friday morning, Amy slept, as expected. I got up and drove out to the USS Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor. I'd been there the last time I was in Hawaii, which was nearly 15 years ago, and wanted to check it out again. It hasn't changed much in 15 years. In fact, I decided not to wait the hour delay before I could take the boat out to the memorial, and decided to just head back. I stopped at Hilo Hatties for my fix of random Hawaiian junk and souveniers before swinging back by the hotel to pick up Amy who was finally up and ready to go. We got lunch at Bubba Gump's at the Ala Moana mall... I had probably some of the best fish and chips (mahi mahi) I have ever had. Food good. I still approve. We then went back to the hotel to rest for a few hours, and eventually get ready for the evening's dinner and festivities.
Long background story shortened to a few sentences... my sister Amy got really involved with the Hawaiian crowd when she was at the UW, so she has about 20 friends from Hawaii, half of which have since graduating moved back to the islands. This UW/Hawaii football game has sort of become a UW reunion for a lot of them, so it's been pretty well planned full of group events. Not a bad thing, I get to tag along and enjoy it. I actually have met most all of her friends before at various times in the past, though don't ask me to match faces to names for most of them. :)
So we went to this dinner that they had organized at the Natsunoya Tea House, which is apparently a long-standing institution in Honolulu, for a full Japanese dinner with tons of tasty food. There were 22 of us having this full family-style feast. It was tasty... mostly. :) More good food. Yet again, I approve.
Closing the evening was planned karaoke. I disapprove. I wasn't going to go, but I did for a bit. It was painful... painfully boring. Is it just me who does not understand the appeal of karaoke in the slightest. I don't really want to hear people sing bad versions of good songs. I think it would have been more fun if it were my friends, rather than 20 of Amy's friends, most of whom I don't know very well. I made the most of it for an hour or so, before leaving to head back to the hotel. Fortunately with enough of her friends, Amy can get a ride back on her own.
Waikiki is abuzz tonight, as I attempted to park in this micro-sized hotel parking garage which was completely full. I had to park in the garage on the next street over, which was sufficiently a pain in the neck, and about 20 minutes that really started to make me grumpy at 12:00am when I just want to get back to my hotel room and relax and sleep. But I finally made it back, found time to blog a bit, and now it's time for bed. This vacation is going to seriously mess with my internal clock, I say.
Tomorrow is the big game, much pre-game tailgating is planned, so it should be good times. But I should be awake for that, and that won't happen unless I sleep now. More tomorrow.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
AR12 - Leg 4 - No chicken, no check-in
And we're off again with leg 4 of the Amazing Race. Will it prove as exciting as I predicted in the previous leg? Probably not, but we shall see...
More marked paths through nowhere. Pick up a chicken... you'll eat it later. "No chicken, no check-in." Oh yeah, and click-it or ticket. Prediction: there's going to be a chicken chase sometime during this leg.
Detour: Shake your pan or shake your booty. Objective vs subjective. Meh... whatever. Except that everyone seems to want to dance. Classic. It seems obvious that creativity was valued above any traditional dance steps. These Africans have never seen Britney's moves... so the blondes succeeded well.
"Caution: U-Turn Ahead"?!?!? A U-Turn? What is this? Could it be ALMOST EXACTLY WHAT I INVENTED AS A 'DEAD END'? Slightly different, in that much more like a yield, a team in front can selectively force another team to go back and do the other detour. But man, I was right on! Feeling of great satisfaction here.
And the blondes U-turn DC#2, who were next to last behind them. Pretty callous use of U-turn. It wasn't really an effective use of the U-turn, I don't think. Just going to make some enemies.
Roadblock: ride a bike with a "potentially uncooperative goat" to deliver the stuff to someone at the market. Uneventful. C-.
Ronald: "Ok, I'll shut my trap." Yes, please do.
What a race to the mat! The siblings beat out DC1 by a nose for first place. "I just feel like everyone should have their turn and they've already been first." HAHA, it's a race kids, deal with it. I wouldn't have let them finish first either. I would have been racing them too. After all was said and done, the U-Turn successfully took out its first victim, DC2 is the last team to arrive.
Besides the U-turn, I wasn't too thrilled by this leg of the race either. It looks like we're off to someplace new next week. Change of scenery should be nice.
More marked paths through nowhere. Pick up a chicken... you'll eat it later. "No chicken, no check-in." Oh yeah, and click-it or ticket. Prediction: there's going to be a chicken chase sometime during this leg.
Detour: Shake your pan or shake your booty. Objective vs subjective. Meh... whatever. Except that everyone seems to want to dance. Classic. It seems obvious that creativity was valued above any traditional dance steps. These Africans have never seen Britney's moves... so the blondes succeeded well.
"Caution: U-Turn Ahead"?!?!? A U-Turn? What is this? Could it be ALMOST EXACTLY WHAT I INVENTED AS A 'DEAD END'? Slightly different, in that much more like a yield, a team in front can selectively force another team to go back and do the other detour. But man, I was right on! Feeling of great satisfaction here.
And the blondes U-turn DC#2, who were next to last behind them. Pretty callous use of U-turn. It wasn't really an effective use of the U-turn, I don't think. Just going to make some enemies.
Roadblock: ride a bike with a "potentially uncooperative goat" to deliver the stuff to someone at the market. Uneventful. C-.
Ronald: "Ok, I'll shut my trap." Yes, please do.
What a race to the mat! The siblings beat out DC1 by a nose for first place. "I just feel like everyone should have their turn and they've already been first." HAHA, it's a race kids, deal with it. I wouldn't have let them finish first either. I would have been racing them too. After all was said and done, the U-Turn successfully took out its first victim, DC2 is the last team to arrive.
Besides the U-turn, I wasn't too thrilled by this leg of the race either. It looks like we're off to someplace new next week. Change of scenery should be nice.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Sky-High Dining
Every so often someone comes up with a new idea that makes you go... WHAT?!
[USA Today Article]
Presenting "Dinner in the Sky": dine at a table suspended from a crane 165 feet above the ground, harnessed into a chair like you're in a roller coaster.
This begs the immediate question... WHY? Are people really that fascinated with cheap thrills and gimicks that this actually would sound like an appealing proposition? In the spirit of cynicism, I present the Top 10 Things Heard During a Dinner in the Sky Event:
10) "As we prepare for our descent, please make sure your plates are securely fastened."
9) "Whew... I think I had a bit too much iced tea."
8) "It was like eating with the 12 apostles and Jesus Christ." [Quote from the co-inventor.]
7) "Anyone have a fire extinguisher?"
6) "Timmy? What happened to all your vegetables?"
5) "Check, please!"
4) "Ladies and gentlemen, we're expecting a bit of turbulence... please return to your seats."
3) "Welcome to Dinner in the Sky, the world's largest lightning rod!"
2) "Waiter, there's a bird in my soup!"
1) "Look at all the people below us... Oops! Can I please have another steak knife?"
In a related story, Dinner in Disguise? Sky-high dining reports drop in reservations after bout of violent food poisoning.
[USA Today Article]
Presenting "Dinner in the Sky": dine at a table suspended from a crane 165 feet above the ground, harnessed into a chair like you're in a roller coaster.
This begs the immediate question... WHY? Are people really that fascinated with cheap thrills and gimicks that this actually would sound like an appealing proposition? In the spirit of cynicism, I present the Top 10 Things Heard During a Dinner in the Sky Event:
10) "As we prepare for our descent, please make sure your plates are securely fastened."
9) "Whew... I think I had a bit too much iced tea."
8) "It was like eating with the 12 apostles and Jesus Christ." [Quote from the co-inventor.]
7) "Anyone have a fire extinguisher?"
6) "Timmy? What happened to all your vegetables?"
5) "Check, please!"
4) "Ladies and gentlemen, we're expecting a bit of turbulence... please return to your seats."
3) "Welcome to Dinner in the Sky, the world's largest lightning rod!"
2) "Waiter, there's a bird in my soup!"
1) "Look at all the people below us... Oops! Can I please have another steak knife?"
In a related story, Dinner in Disguise? Sky-high dining reports drop in reservations after bout of violent food poisoning.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
AR12 - Leg 3 - Fly where?
9 Teams remain... who will be eliminated next?
Amsterdam. We begin by finding out that Ronald developed a hernia on the last leg of the race and was treated during the pit stop. This does not bode well for Team Tacoma.
Fly to Ouagadouguawhatkhcasmasomewhere... er... somewhere in Burkina Faso. Though first the teams have to figure out that's where it is. Once again though, we have an incredibly long flight to start off the leg. This should once again equalize the teams into a couple big groups. Even closer, it's going to be 1 team on a 7:20am Flight, 8 teams all together on an 8:00 am flight. Of course, as expected, the 8am flight suffers "mechanical problems" that may cause all 8 teams to miss their connection in Paris. Of course that wouldn't happen, would it? Of course not. Now all 9 teams are equalized onto a single flight to Ouagadougou. I wouldn't want to have to pay by the letter.
Now take the last train to nowhere. I-24... BINGO! Bingo, Burkina Faso is uh, in the middle of nowhere. The train stops on the tracks and you jump off. Classic. It's quickly becoming reminiscent of the driving through Southern Africa on AR7. And what do you do in Bingo? That's right, a roadblock... milk a camel... and then drink it. Bleah.
Lead 4 camels across the savannah all the way to a group of waiting nomads... destined to become the most famous Burkina Faso nomads in the entire world. And how easy it is to get lost when there are no roads and everything looks the same.
And Ronald is singing again... great. And DC2 is having a breakdown. Oh the drama. If there's one thing the Amazing Race has taught us all, is that screaming will solve any problem. :)
Detour: Teach it or Learn it. Teach 10 English words to children who know no English whatsoever. Or, the opposite, learn 10 Mori words. Kids learn better than older people, so I'd teach it instead of trying to learn it.
Yes, teaching kids the words "skyscraper", "camera" and "cowboy" when these kids have certainly never seen one of any of them in their entire lives, makes a lot of sense. :) Classic moment of the night goes once again to Ronald for describing skyscraper in terms of King Kong on the Empire State Building. Word association only works if they can associate it to something else they know. :) The siblings, however, take the learn it approach and pull into 1st place.
To the pitstop they go... and the wind and rains begin. Phil stands on the magic carpet with an umbrella... as the sibling are team number 1. I think the mat will need some dry cleaning after this leg of the race. I hope they have spares.
DC2 is still trying to milk their camels. They are so far behind, I see little chance remaining for them not to be the next victim of the Amazing Race. Teams 2,3,4,5 and 6 all arrive on the magic carpet within a minute of each other. The blondes arrive shortly later as team #7. The remaining 2 teams (DC2 and the Sisters) are significantly behind and it will be a race to the finish as both are trying to Learn It. DC2 survives to make it 8th. The sisters are the last team to arrive.
I must say this leg of the race was pretty straight forward, though interesting at least due to the unique locations and challenges. I kinda hope that they continue on their adventures through Africa, because on some level all cities start to look the same after a while. Once you're in the middle of Africa, everything is new and different... until the nothingness starts to look too familiar, but that's when it's time to leave. We'll see what happens next week.
Amsterdam. We begin by finding out that Ronald developed a hernia on the last leg of the race and was treated during the pit stop. This does not bode well for Team Tacoma.
Fly to Ouagadouguawhatkhcasmasomewhere... er... somewhere in Burkina Faso. Though first the teams have to figure out that's where it is. Once again though, we have an incredibly long flight to start off the leg. This should once again equalize the teams into a couple big groups. Even closer, it's going to be 1 team on a 7:20am Flight, 8 teams all together on an 8:00 am flight. Of course, as expected, the 8am flight suffers "mechanical problems" that may cause all 8 teams to miss their connection in Paris. Of course that wouldn't happen, would it? Of course not. Now all 9 teams are equalized onto a single flight to Ouagadougou. I wouldn't want to have to pay by the letter.
Now take the last train to nowhere. I-24... BINGO! Bingo, Burkina Faso is uh, in the middle of nowhere. The train stops on the tracks and you jump off. Classic. It's quickly becoming reminiscent of the driving through Southern Africa on AR7. And what do you do in Bingo? That's right, a roadblock... milk a camel... and then drink it. Bleah.
Lead 4 camels across the savannah all the way to a group of waiting nomads... destined to become the most famous Burkina Faso nomads in the entire world. And how easy it is to get lost when there are no roads and everything looks the same.
And Ronald is singing again... great. And DC2 is having a breakdown. Oh the drama. If there's one thing the Amazing Race has taught us all, is that screaming will solve any problem. :)
Detour: Teach it or Learn it. Teach 10 English words to children who know no English whatsoever. Or, the opposite, learn 10 Mori words. Kids learn better than older people, so I'd teach it instead of trying to learn it.
Yes, teaching kids the words "skyscraper", "camera" and "cowboy" when these kids have certainly never seen one of any of them in their entire lives, makes a lot of sense. :) Classic moment of the night goes once again to Ronald for describing skyscraper in terms of King Kong on the Empire State Building. Word association only works if they can associate it to something else they know. :) The siblings, however, take the learn it approach and pull into 1st place.
To the pitstop they go... and the wind and rains begin. Phil stands on the magic carpet with an umbrella... as the sibling are team number 1. I think the mat will need some dry cleaning after this leg of the race. I hope they have spares.
DC2 is still trying to milk their camels. They are so far behind, I see little chance remaining for them not to be the next victim of the Amazing Race. Teams 2,3,4,5 and 6 all arrive on the magic carpet within a minute of each other. The blondes arrive shortly later as team #7. The remaining 2 teams (DC2 and the Sisters) are significantly behind and it will be a race to the finish as both are trying to Learn It. DC2 survives to make it 8th. The sisters are the last team to arrive.
I must say this leg of the race was pretty straight forward, though interesting at least due to the unique locations and challenges. I kinda hope that they continue on their adventures through Africa, because on some level all cities start to look the same after a while. Once you're in the middle of Africa, everything is new and different... until the nothingness starts to look too familiar, but that's when it's time to leave. We'll see what happens next week.
Friday, November 16, 2007
40 days and 40 nights
The date is November 16th, an entire 40 days before Christmas. To put that in perspective, Biblical references use "40 days and 40 nights" as synonymous with "a very, very long time". Why the significance, you might ask? Well, as it seems to happen earlier every year, today it happened again... WARM 106.9 started playing non-stop Christmas music. Truth be told, I wouldn't even had realized it until I stopped in at Subway on my way home from work and as I walk in the door, hear Andy Williams singing "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" and had to do an auditory double-take. [Don't ask me how that works, by the way.]
Avid readers of my blog will recall prior references to my long-standing rule regarding holiday music. I am, of course, a huge fan of Christmas music of all types, but have instituted a rule (which admittedly, like the Pirates' Code is more a guideline than an actual rule) that I shall not intentionally listen to Christmas music until Thanksgiving. This was officially amended in 2004 to allow anytime starting the week of Thanksgiving. So in actuality, even according to my guidelines, as soon as Sunday it would be acceptable. But still... I think it's the fact that Thanksgiving this year is so early that it just seems too early for the holiday season to be here already. The whole point of the rule is simply to make sure that I'm not completely sick of Christmas music by the time December 25th actually arrives.
I guess you can't change it. By Monday I'll have the Christmas music ready to play on the radio, and my all-star collection of holiday music cascading from the headphones of my MP3 player.
At least I still have 39 days to start my Christmas shopping.
Avid readers of my blog will recall prior references to my long-standing rule regarding holiday music. I am, of course, a huge fan of Christmas music of all types, but have instituted a rule (which admittedly, like the Pirates' Code is more a guideline than an actual rule) that I shall not intentionally listen to Christmas music until Thanksgiving. This was officially amended in 2004 to allow anytime starting the week of Thanksgiving. So in actuality, even according to my guidelines, as soon as Sunday it would be acceptable. But still... I think it's the fact that Thanksgiving this year is so early that it just seems too early for the holiday season to be here already. The whole point of the rule is simply to make sure that I'm not completely sick of Christmas music by the time December 25th actually arrives.
I guess you can't change it. By Monday I'll have the Christmas music ready to play on the radio, and my all-star collection of holiday music cascading from the headphones of my MP3 player.
At least I still have 39 days to start my Christmas shopping.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
AR12 - Leg 2 - Ditch Valuting for Dummies
10 teams remain... who will be eliminated next?
Tarry no longer in Ireland, they're immediately off to Amsterdam. The only thing for certain about starting off with a flight is that all of the teams will be relatively equalized into a couple of groups. Especially when they're all starting off around midnight or 2am.
Quote of the night so far comes from Kate and Pat, "We are religious people, but we have no allusions that God cares if we win The Amazing Race." Too funny.
Well, apparantly it wasn't quite as much as getting to the airport to catch a plane to Amsterdam, but to attempt to book the flight fast enough. And some early morning drama on the first morning of the race, probably a bit of lack of sleep makes the tempers rise. What else is to be expected? Of course, the producers will capitalize on that and try to make it seem more dramatic than it is. However, 9 teams make it on the first flight to Dublin, 1 team gets left behind for the next flight. But... you never know, that team will probably end up in first when all is said and done.
Ooohhh, and Team Tacoma pulls the nice card and tries to get a step ahead on the standby list for the flight, but apparently fails as they end up on the second flight. Ronald goes on a bit of a tirade at Grandson about how being rude won't get you anywhere... he might take a bit of his own suggestion and avoid making too many enemies this early on the race. At least *pretend* to be friends with everyone. :)
Detour: Hoist it of Hunt it. Hoist 5 pieces of furniture using pulleys to a several story building. Or hunt for two specifically marked bikes among hundreds, and bike 5 miles to get your next clue. Hoist it seems pretty quick and easy, hunt it seems long and painful. By my long-standing philosophy, take the harder one. But I just can't imagine hunt it to be much easier than this. Though hoist it seems like any of a thousand cartoon episodes where they try to hoist a grand piano 5 stories only to have it crash to the ground on Wile E. Coyote instead of the Road Runner.
This brings us to my latest idea for a new game element... and this is sheer genius if you ask me... I call it the "Dead End". It occurs in association with a Detour on the race, but after you complete one of the detours, it leads you to the forementioned dead end after which you have to go back and take the other detour and try to catch up the lost time. The only problem is that it's really a random penalty if you just happen to choose the wrong detour to take the first time. I think the only time it would be reasonable to do that is if it's a very short detour that won't take long, but just enough to be a minor penalty for choosing poorly. But it would be fun. I hereby place this idea in the public domain... so if the producers of the Amazing Race decide to read my blog and want to try it, go right ahead. :)
Back to the race, we're off to the next stop. As I suspected, those who did Hoist It well managed to pull about 5 spots ahead of the first place team who did the Hunt It.
Roadblock. The Dutch sport of "Ditch Valuting". The name says all you need to know. Sounds like fun to me. And incredibly easy for DC2. Lorena and Jason, are off to the pit stop. This is going to provide quite the comic relief though.
The final 3 teams are just now making it to Amsterdam. But I suspect they'll make it further than some who are already there.
"Lorena and Jason... you're team number one!" DC1 makes it #2, followed shortly by the blondes at #3. Could we pick three more annoying teams as the first three teams? Seriously.
Ronald talks too much. Shut up.
Pops... oh my goodness. "I have no comment," says grandson. I concur.
The goths come in #4, siblings #5 and the newlydaters #6. I actually like these teams.
Ronald still talks too much.
But team Tacoma pulls of a #9 finish.
Kate and Pat are going to hear the 6 words no racer wants to hear "You're the last team to arrive".
This was a rather quick moving episode. Again, not particularly interesting. But we are proceeding to eliminate the only teams who are actually distinct. I have yet to be really interested in what happens next... but it's early in the race and still not the real exciting stuff yet.
Oh, and the show's over... but I have this suspicion that Ronald is still talking too much.
Tarry no longer in Ireland, they're immediately off to Amsterdam. The only thing for certain about starting off with a flight is that all of the teams will be relatively equalized into a couple of groups. Especially when they're all starting off around midnight or 2am.
Quote of the night so far comes from Kate and Pat, "We are religious people, but we have no allusions that God cares if we win The Amazing Race." Too funny.
Well, apparantly it wasn't quite as much as getting to the airport to catch a plane to Amsterdam, but to attempt to book the flight fast enough. And some early morning drama on the first morning of the race, probably a bit of lack of sleep makes the tempers rise. What else is to be expected? Of course, the producers will capitalize on that and try to make it seem more dramatic than it is. However, 9 teams make it on the first flight to Dublin, 1 team gets left behind for the next flight. But... you never know, that team will probably end up in first when all is said and done.
Ooohhh, and Team Tacoma pulls the nice card and tries to get a step ahead on the standby list for the flight, but apparently fails as they end up on the second flight. Ronald goes on a bit of a tirade at Grandson about how being rude won't get you anywhere... he might take a bit of his own suggestion and avoid making too many enemies this early on the race. At least *pretend* to be friends with everyone. :)
Detour: Hoist it of Hunt it. Hoist 5 pieces of furniture using pulleys to a several story building. Or hunt for two specifically marked bikes among hundreds, and bike 5 miles to get your next clue. Hoist it seems pretty quick and easy, hunt it seems long and painful. By my long-standing philosophy, take the harder one. But I just can't imagine hunt it to be much easier than this. Though hoist it seems like any of a thousand cartoon episodes where they try to hoist a grand piano 5 stories only to have it crash to the ground on Wile E. Coyote instead of the Road Runner.
This brings us to my latest idea for a new game element... and this is sheer genius if you ask me... I call it the "Dead End". It occurs in association with a Detour on the race, but after you complete one of the detours, it leads you to the forementioned dead end after which you have to go back and take the other detour and try to catch up the lost time. The only problem is that it's really a random penalty if you just happen to choose the wrong detour to take the first time. I think the only time it would be reasonable to do that is if it's a very short detour that won't take long, but just enough to be a minor penalty for choosing poorly. But it would be fun. I hereby place this idea in the public domain... so if the producers of the Amazing Race decide to read my blog and want to try it, go right ahead. :)
Back to the race, we're off to the next stop. As I suspected, those who did Hoist It well managed to pull about 5 spots ahead of the first place team who did the Hunt It.
Roadblock. The Dutch sport of "Ditch Valuting". The name says all you need to know. Sounds like fun to me. And incredibly easy for DC2. Lorena and Jason, are off to the pit stop. This is going to provide quite the comic relief though.
The final 3 teams are just now making it to Amsterdam. But I suspect they'll make it further than some who are already there.
"Lorena and Jason... you're team number one!" DC1 makes it #2, followed shortly by the blondes at #3. Could we pick three more annoying teams as the first three teams? Seriously.
Ronald talks too much. Shut up.
Pops... oh my goodness. "I have no comment," says grandson. I concur.
The goths come in #4, siblings #5 and the newlydaters #6. I actually like these teams.
Ronald still talks too much.
But team Tacoma pulls of a #9 finish.
Kate and Pat are going to hear the 6 words no racer wants to hear "You're the last team to arrive".
This was a rather quick moving episode. Again, not particularly interesting. But we are proceeding to eliminate the only teams who are actually distinct. I have yet to be really interested in what happens next... but it's early in the race and still not the real exciting stuff yet.
Oh, and the show's over... but I have this suspicion that Ronald is still talking too much.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Into the Woods
Last night I saw Into the Woods, a musical composed by Stephen Sondheim back in the mid 1980's, at the 5th Avenue Theatre. This was yet another of the "musicals I don't recall ever hearing of or seeing," besides the occasional reference. The musical interweaves four famous fairy tales (Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Cinderella) within a common setting and then attempts to answer the question "what happens AFTER 'Happily Ever After'?"
The first act is pretty straight-forward, and tells each of the four stories, threading them together with an original fifth story that builds its plot using elements from each of the other four. At first, I expected it to become quite a mess of subplots that would be nothing if not confusing to follow. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find it very easy to follow, probably the result of the four fairy tales being so familiar and the characters so distinct. But despite how busy it was, I found the first act to be very level-toned, with not much excitement or any climactic points whatsoever. It was a very long (1.5 hours for the Act I alone) set up for the second act. If fact, at the end of the first act, short of a "To Be Continued!" announced by the narrator, you'd likely be asking the question (as some around me did), "Is that the end? Or is it just intermission?"
Act II is where the stories converge and the real embellishment occurs as the characters from each of the stories unite in a common goal of defending themselves against the Giant of the Beanstalk's wife avenging the death of her husband in the first act. I must admit, as the second act began, I had that momentary dread of "should I have left at the intermission?" But the second act proved to actually be a bit captivating, and rather entertaining, which kept my attention easily until the conclusion.
As this was one of the 5th's local productions, the cast drew from the finest musical performers Seattle has to offer, who are certainly not a disappointment. The scenery and other effects were top-notch, while without all the flash and awe that seems to have become the requisite of current Broadway musicals. It was a solid musical in the genre of what I would call "traditional American musicals."
On to the ratings:
Script - 3 stars - Interesting premise, but it just didn't appeal much to me.
Technical - 4 stars - Solid and quality. Even the occasional pyrotechnics. Well designed and well executed. It was like looking into a storybook.
Cast - 4 stars - An outstanding local group of performers, with some definite highlights but consistent quality overall.
Music - 3 stars - Despite its Tony award-winning score (edging out Phantom for the honor in 1988), I just wasn't impressed. Though not bad, I didn't come away humming the tunes or wanting more.
Overall - 3 stars - Hard to justify more. I would see it again if given the right opportunity, but not otherwise.
The first act is pretty straight-forward, and tells each of the four stories, threading them together with an original fifth story that builds its plot using elements from each of the other four. At first, I expected it to become quite a mess of subplots that would be nothing if not confusing to follow. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find it very easy to follow, probably the result of the four fairy tales being so familiar and the characters so distinct. But despite how busy it was, I found the first act to be very level-toned, with not much excitement or any climactic points whatsoever. It was a very long (1.5 hours for the Act I alone) set up for the second act. If fact, at the end of the first act, short of a "To Be Continued!" announced by the narrator, you'd likely be asking the question (as some around me did), "Is that the end? Or is it just intermission?"
Act II is where the stories converge and the real embellishment occurs as the characters from each of the stories unite in a common goal of defending themselves against the Giant of the Beanstalk's wife avenging the death of her husband in the first act. I must admit, as the second act began, I had that momentary dread of "should I have left at the intermission?" But the second act proved to actually be a bit captivating, and rather entertaining, which kept my attention easily until the conclusion.
As this was one of the 5th's local productions, the cast drew from the finest musical performers Seattle has to offer, who are certainly not a disappointment. The scenery and other effects were top-notch, while without all the flash and awe that seems to have become the requisite of current Broadway musicals. It was a solid musical in the genre of what I would call "traditional American musicals."
On to the ratings:
Script - 3 stars - Interesting premise, but it just didn't appeal much to me.
Technical - 4 stars - Solid and quality. Even the occasional pyrotechnics. Well designed and well executed. It was like looking into a storybook.
Cast - 4 stars - An outstanding local group of performers, with some definite highlights but consistent quality overall.
Music - 3 stars - Despite its Tony award-winning score (edging out Phantom for the honor in 1988), I just wasn't impressed. Though not bad, I didn't come away humming the tunes or wanting more.
Overall - 3 stars - Hard to justify more. I would see it again if given the right opportunity, but not otherwise.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Election Roundup 2007
Rarely am I compelled to write about anything political, but after yesterday's election festivities, I thought I'd make a few comments considering about everything I voted one way on went the other way.
Prop 1 - the aptly named "Roads and Transit" package that would bring light rail everywhere and lots more roads, failing miserably. I think the problem all along has been the "roads" part of it. I'm a huge fan of light rail wherever they want to put it. The vocal masses opposed to this measure took issue with the roads part, and well, I guess I can't blame them for that. The problem was they tried to put it all together. I think people would have approved the light rail if it were all on its own. Oh well... I guess we'll just have to wait another decade for solid public transportation options and pay twice as much.
Initiative 960 - Tim Eyman's latest attempt at "armchair legislating" which would require 2/3 legislative approval (or any voter approval) for any tax increase in Olympia, PLUS an "advisory vote" of the people for any new tax... passing. How anyone can vote for anything that comes out of Eyman's bag o' crap anymore still astounds me. The one commonality that every one of his initiatives have demonstrated countless times before is that they create sweeping changes that hurt far more than they help. Can we recall back to his first $30 car tabs initiative that was passed? You don't have to look far to see the lack of decent bus service and sky-high ferry tolls to see the results of that. Oh, but Timmy's Lexus SUV is as cheap as ever for him to license. Good thing we saved him some money. On the bright side, this ridiculous piece of legislation will likely be tied up in court as they determine it contradicts with the state constitution and then shoot it back down. Then Eyman will start crying out that the "will of the people" is being ignored by the state, blah blah blah... we've been through this all before.
EHJR 4204 - Reducing the requred vote from 60% to 50% to approve school levies. Is this just a change to make it easier for school levies to pass because they keep failing? Of course it is. But does it still make sense? Of course it does. Why should schools be held to higher requirements than anything else? It only takes 50% (+1) of the people to approve stupid initiatives, and other major taxes, why do schools have to get more? This never has made any sense to me. Plus, schools need the money, and it's a much better way to spend it than on most of this other junk. If 50% of the people don't want it, that's fine, but 40% shouldn't be able to dictate the terms.
Everything else on the ballot is relatively uninteresting. We didn't have any elections for any big state or federal positions, so it was relatively uneventful. But at least it's all over now, and I can stop seeing all of those darn commercials.
Prop 1 - the aptly named "Roads and Transit" package that would bring light rail everywhere and lots more roads, failing miserably. I think the problem all along has been the "roads" part of it. I'm a huge fan of light rail wherever they want to put it. The vocal masses opposed to this measure took issue with the roads part, and well, I guess I can't blame them for that. The problem was they tried to put it all together. I think people would have approved the light rail if it were all on its own. Oh well... I guess we'll just have to wait another decade for solid public transportation options and pay twice as much.
Initiative 960 - Tim Eyman's latest attempt at "armchair legislating" which would require 2/3 legislative approval (or any voter approval) for any tax increase in Olympia, PLUS an "advisory vote" of the people for any new tax... passing. How anyone can vote for anything that comes out of Eyman's bag o' crap anymore still astounds me. The one commonality that every one of his initiatives have demonstrated countless times before is that they create sweeping changes that hurt far more than they help. Can we recall back to his first $30 car tabs initiative that was passed? You don't have to look far to see the lack of decent bus service and sky-high ferry tolls to see the results of that. Oh, but Timmy's Lexus SUV is as cheap as ever for him to license. Good thing we saved him some money. On the bright side, this ridiculous piece of legislation will likely be tied up in court as they determine it contradicts with the state constitution and then shoot it back down. Then Eyman will start crying out that the "will of the people" is being ignored by the state, blah blah blah... we've been through this all before.
EHJR 4204 - Reducing the requred vote from 60% to 50% to approve school levies. Is this just a change to make it easier for school levies to pass because they keep failing? Of course it is. But does it still make sense? Of course it does. Why should schools be held to higher requirements than anything else? It only takes 50% (+1) of the people to approve stupid initiatives, and other major taxes, why do schools have to get more? This never has made any sense to me. Plus, schools need the money, and it's a much better way to spend it than on most of this other junk. If 50% of the people don't want it, that's fine, but 40% shouldn't be able to dictate the terms.
Everything else on the ballot is relatively uninteresting. We didn't have any elections for any big state or federal positions, so it was relatively uneventful. But at least it's all over now, and I can stop seeing all of those darn commercials.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Amazing Race 12 - The Race Begins
I have decided to resurrect my ongoing musings and running commentary related to the new season of The Amazing Race [Sundays, 8pm, CBS]. Longtime, avid readers will recall back to 2005 (yes, that long ago) when the first of my series, the Amazing Race 7 Travelblog, was produced, followed later that year by the Amazing Race 8 Travelblog. After being seriously turned off by the Family Edition that was AR8, I have taken a break from watching several of the latest seasons (AR9, AR10, and AR11's All-Stars Edition). But I'm back, partially because there is little else to watch on Sunday night, and I have little else to do on Sunday night, as well as the fact that my blog is desperately in need of some new material.
This time, though, instead of sticking everything in its own separate blog thread, you'll find it right here along with the rest of the random postings you've become accustomed to. Plus, it's easier for me that way. For those of you new to the format, a brief introduction: I sit here and type-type-type in real-time what I think as I'm watching the show. There isn't much editing, you get whatever comes out of my head, and fortunately, I fast-forward through the commercials for you. :)
Well, the DVR is cued up and my typing fingers are ready, so without further ado, let's kick off the Amazing Race 12 Travelblog.
Here's Phil on top of some skyscraper in Los Angeles, looking much the same as he always does, even after 12 seasons, does this man not age?! Seriously? Anyway, let's meet the teams... as past experience has indicated, some of these aren't worth caring about, especially at this early in the race, but we'll try to give each of them their 10-seconds of fame, which is about as much as the producers gave them.
Marianna and Julia - The sisters from Miami. Will "use their looks to win challenges". Touching.
Ronald and Christina - The obligatory father and daughter, but from Tacoma. Nice local connection there.
Kynt and Vyxsin- Goth couple. "Everyday is Halloween!"
Nicholas and Donald - Airline Pilot and his grandfather. First impression, these look like they'll be a fun team to follow.
Nathan and Jennifer - Dating couple #1, gotta have a few of those because it's free drama.
Azaria and Hendekea - The obligatory brother and sister team, but both engineers.
Lorena and Jason - Dating couple #2. These look less drama, but looks can be deceiving.
Kate and Pat - Married lesbian ministers. I'm pretty sure that's a first for AR.
Ari and Staela - Best friends and coworkers. This is going to be one of the fun teams.
Shana and Jennifer - Friends from LA - but shall be known forever more as "The Blondes"
TK and Rachel - Newly dating, also from SoCal. Newly dating in Episode 1, sure to be newly broken up by the Finale.
Welcome to the Playboy Mansion, which was obviously chosen for the scenic and discrete locale, as it is barely mentioned that that's where they are. This is a family show, afterall. Phil gives the quick rules... "Good Luck, Travel Safe, and GO!" STAMPEDE!!!
Waste no time in LA, they're off the Shannon, Ireland. Let's see who knows how to drive their minivans through LA and find the airport. As usual in the first leg of the race, there's plenty of enthusiasm to go around, reality hasn't quite set in yet.
AND the opening credits. Dramatic poses, wait for it, and turn to face the camera. Typical. I guess the formula is so good they don't bother changing it.
First to the airport, who really cares. I mean, everyone's gonna make it to Ireland within about an hour of each other, that's the way the show works. Both the dating couples were in the first group to arrive. The siblings hit the cutoff point, "Sorry, the flight is full." 7 teams miss out on the first flight. Tragic. But the first alliance has formed, Siblings and Tacoma join forces to use the power of the internet to do some pre-search on the destination. Smart cookies.
Ah, Irish accents, at least I can understand what they are saying. Find the smallest church in the world, a rock thing on a hill, of course, they'll be stranded there until morning waiting for a ferry. Oh, it was so worth it pushing and shoving your way to the airport, wasn't it?
I wonder if you can tell where you are in the world solely by the taxi drivers. In New York, you'd find middle-eastern guys with turbans, but in Ireland, old guys wearing sweaters. We'll have to revisit this in a later episode.
It's obviously rainy season in Ireland. OOohhh, wait for it... Nathan and Jennifer (Dating Couple #1) are already yelling at each other! Did I predict that just 10 minutes ago, I think I did. DC1, you have a phone call... Dr. Phil wants to book you for his show after you get eliminated.
OK, I already like Team Tacoma, these folks are just nice people, definitely from the Northwest. Unfrotunately, I don't think that bodes particularly well for surviving the race. We'll soon find out.
Next stop, Cleggan Farm, ride a bicycle-built-for-two through the mud to find your next clue. Oh this should be tons of fun. Who will fall off first? Well first we have to get there. Wow, DC2 (Lorena and Jason) is just about as much drama as DC1. "We're not going the right way, I know it, just listen to me." "I feel like we're not communicating well, which is our problem in real life." Hilarious. This is one who's watched TOO MUCH Dr. Phil.
And the goths' bicycle chain broke, that sucks. But doesn't seem to change much. The bicycles seem to be a non-event.
Road Block: high wire bicycles. Probably a bit scary, but not too difficult. Also a non-eventful event.
Fun with donkeys. Getting any animal to go where you want it to is a challenge, let alone a donkey. Oh, now starts the mayhem. Some donkeys go fast, some go slow, and others don't go at all. One thing's for sure, yelling at the donkey "if you don't go I'm going to cut you up and eat you"... probably not the best method of motivation. Wow, stubborn as a mule... wait a second...
And it's off to the pit stop. Who's team will reign supreme? Who will be the first team to be eliminated, and fall into the ranks of "who were they?"
And the siblings arrive... and there's Phil on the magic carpet. "You're Team Number One!" Nice people. I approve. Followed shortly behind are the goths. Newlydaters are #3.
Ronald of Team Tacoma sings a lovely rendition of Danny Boy while pedaling along the high wire. That's awesome.
DC2 arrive #4 on the mat. DC1 have the stubborn mule and keep watching as half the other teams have already passed them. Pilot Nick and Grandpa Don come in #5. The blondes make it #6. Tacoma is #7, followed by the Kate and Pat #8. Both teams are just glad to have survived the first leg. Sisters come in 9th, followed by DC1 as 10th after finally pushing their stubborn mule all the way there. And finally we have the best friends, Ari and Staela, who just couldn't make it fast enough, and are the first team to be eliminated from AR12. Probably a good thing, because I didn't have a good nickname for them, and was having a heck of a time spelling Staela.
Well, as is customary with the first episode of the season, it was a bit frantic. I'm glad that they resisted the urge to turn a frantic 1-hour episode into a painfully long and boring 2-hour episode as they have in the past. Once again we seem to be heading east around the world... but that can always change. They usually like to mix things up a bit.
Interestingly enough, no detour on this leg of the race. And the roadblock wasn't hard enough to cause any real separation. As a result, it stayed pretty much a follow-the-leader the entire way through. Not very exciting, but the teams should be interesting. So far though, none of the teams really stand out to me as front-runners. Maybe it will be a close race each week.
This time, though, instead of sticking everything in its own separate blog thread, you'll find it right here along with the rest of the random postings you've become accustomed to. Plus, it's easier for me that way. For those of you new to the format, a brief introduction: I sit here and type-type-type in real-time what I think as I'm watching the show. There isn't much editing, you get whatever comes out of my head, and fortunately, I fast-forward through the commercials for you. :)
Well, the DVR is cued up and my typing fingers are ready, so without further ado, let's kick off the Amazing Race 12 Travelblog.
Here's Phil on top of some skyscraper in Los Angeles, looking much the same as he always does, even after 12 seasons, does this man not age?! Seriously? Anyway, let's meet the teams... as past experience has indicated, some of these aren't worth caring about, especially at this early in the race, but we'll try to give each of them their 10-seconds of fame, which is about as much as the producers gave them.
Marianna and Julia - The sisters from Miami. Will "use their looks to win challenges". Touching.
Ronald and Christina - The obligatory father and daughter, but from Tacoma. Nice local connection there.
Kynt and Vyxsin- Goth couple. "Everyday is Halloween!"
Nicholas and Donald - Airline Pilot and his grandfather. First impression, these look like they'll be a fun team to follow.
Nathan and Jennifer - Dating couple #1, gotta have a few of those because it's free drama.
Azaria and Hendekea - The obligatory brother and sister team, but both engineers.
Lorena and Jason - Dating couple #2. These look less drama, but looks can be deceiving.
Kate and Pat - Married lesbian ministers. I'm pretty sure that's a first for AR.
Ari and Staela - Best friends and coworkers. This is going to be one of the fun teams.
Shana and Jennifer - Friends from LA - but shall be known forever more as "The Blondes"
TK and Rachel - Newly dating, also from SoCal. Newly dating in Episode 1, sure to be newly broken up by the Finale.
Welcome to the Playboy Mansion, which was obviously chosen for the scenic and discrete locale, as it is barely mentioned that that's where they are. This is a family show, afterall. Phil gives the quick rules... "Good Luck, Travel Safe, and GO!" STAMPEDE!!!
Waste no time in LA, they're off the Shannon, Ireland. Let's see who knows how to drive their minivans through LA and find the airport. As usual in the first leg of the race, there's plenty of enthusiasm to go around, reality hasn't quite set in yet.
AND the opening credits. Dramatic poses, wait for it, and turn to face the camera. Typical. I guess the formula is so good they don't bother changing it.
First to the airport, who really cares. I mean, everyone's gonna make it to Ireland within about an hour of each other, that's the way the show works. Both the dating couples were in the first group to arrive. The siblings hit the cutoff point, "Sorry, the flight is full." 7 teams miss out on the first flight. Tragic. But the first alliance has formed, Siblings and Tacoma join forces to use the power of the internet to do some pre-search on the destination. Smart cookies.
Ah, Irish accents, at least I can understand what they are saying. Find the smallest church in the world, a rock thing on a hill, of course, they'll be stranded there until morning waiting for a ferry. Oh, it was so worth it pushing and shoving your way to the airport, wasn't it?
I wonder if you can tell where you are in the world solely by the taxi drivers. In New York, you'd find middle-eastern guys with turbans, but in Ireland, old guys wearing sweaters. We'll have to revisit this in a later episode.
It's obviously rainy season in Ireland. OOohhh, wait for it... Nathan and Jennifer (Dating Couple #1) are already yelling at each other! Did I predict that just 10 minutes ago, I think I did. DC1, you have a phone call... Dr. Phil wants to book you for his show after you get eliminated.
OK, I already like Team Tacoma, these folks are just nice people, definitely from the Northwest. Unfrotunately, I don't think that bodes particularly well for surviving the race. We'll soon find out.
Next stop, Cleggan Farm, ride a bicycle-built-for-two through the mud to find your next clue. Oh this should be tons of fun. Who will fall off first? Well first we have to get there. Wow, DC2 (Lorena and Jason) is just about as much drama as DC1. "We're not going the right way, I know it, just listen to me." "I feel like we're not communicating well, which is our problem in real life." Hilarious. This is one who's watched TOO MUCH Dr. Phil.
And the goths' bicycle chain broke, that sucks. But doesn't seem to change much. The bicycles seem to be a non-event.
Road Block: high wire bicycles. Probably a bit scary, but not too difficult. Also a non-eventful event.
Fun with donkeys. Getting any animal to go where you want it to is a challenge, let alone a donkey. Oh, now starts the mayhem. Some donkeys go fast, some go slow, and others don't go at all. One thing's for sure, yelling at the donkey "if you don't go I'm going to cut you up and eat you"... probably not the best method of motivation. Wow, stubborn as a mule... wait a second...
And it's off to the pit stop. Who's team will reign supreme? Who will be the first team to be eliminated, and fall into the ranks of "who were they?"
And the siblings arrive... and there's Phil on the magic carpet. "You're Team Number One!" Nice people. I approve. Followed shortly behind are the goths. Newlydaters are #3.
Ronald of Team Tacoma sings a lovely rendition of Danny Boy while pedaling along the high wire. That's awesome.
DC2 arrive #4 on the mat. DC1 have the stubborn mule and keep watching as half the other teams have already passed them. Pilot Nick and Grandpa Don come in #5. The blondes make it #6. Tacoma is #7, followed by the Kate and Pat #8. Both teams are just glad to have survived the first leg. Sisters come in 9th, followed by DC1 as 10th after finally pushing their stubborn mule all the way there. And finally we have the best friends, Ari and Staela, who just couldn't make it fast enough, and are the first team to be eliminated from AR12. Probably a good thing, because I didn't have a good nickname for them, and was having a heck of a time spelling Staela.
Well, as is customary with the first episode of the season, it was a bit frantic. I'm glad that they resisted the urge to turn a frantic 1-hour episode into a painfully long and boring 2-hour episode as they have in the past. Once again we seem to be heading east around the world... but that can always change. They usually like to mix things up a bit.
Interestingly enough, no detour on this leg of the race. And the roadblock wasn't hard enough to cause any real separation. As a result, it stayed pretty much a follow-the-leader the entire way through. Not very exciting, but the teams should be interesting. So far though, none of the teams really stand out to me as front-runners. Maybe it will be a close race each week.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Weekend festivus
It's been an eventful weekend so far, and it's only Saturday night. I'm incredibly tired, yet awake right now. This weekend has been filled with curling as we have our annual Autumn Bonspiel. I curled on a team with 2 of the guys I curl with on Thursday nights, and one other guy. After the luck of the draw gave us our first game at 10:30pm on Friday night, we proceeded to lose all three of our games and were done Saturday night. While this is somewhat disappointing, it does mean I don't have to curl at all on Sunday and I have a nice relaxing day ahead of me, including a Bonus Hour due to the miracle of Daylight Savings Time.
A rather amusing story: late last night I was driving down Aurora coming home from the curling club, and I look in my rear view mirror and there's a car tailgating me. After uttering a few things I usually do when stupid drivers annoy me (I'm very talkative, especially when nobody else is in the car) I pull forward and change lanes to let them get through since they were obviously in such a hurry. This red car paces me to the side and I look over and who do I see... my sister. Pay no attention to the odd coincidence that we both were driving down the same stretch of road at 1:45am. Truth be told, she didn't really know it was me in front of her either, she thought "that looks like Joe's car" but thought "naww, Joe wouldn't be out at 1:45am, he's lame like that". [Judicious readers will note, that she was tailgating me, without actually having any belief it was me at all.] But yes, it was me afterall... and a strangely funny coincidence.
I don't think I have much more exciting to say. I think it's time for bed.
A rather amusing story: late last night I was driving down Aurora coming home from the curling club, and I look in my rear view mirror and there's a car tailgating me. After uttering a few things I usually do when stupid drivers annoy me (I'm very talkative, especially when nobody else is in the car) I pull forward and change lanes to let them get through since they were obviously in such a hurry. This red car paces me to the side and I look over and who do I see... my sister. Pay no attention to the odd coincidence that we both were driving down the same stretch of road at 1:45am. Truth be told, she didn't really know it was me in front of her either, she thought "that looks like Joe's car" but thought "naww, Joe wouldn't be out at 1:45am, he's lame like that". [Judicious readers will note, that she was tailgating me, without actually having any belief it was me at all.] But yes, it was me afterall... and a strangely funny coincidence.
I don't think I have much more exciting to say. I think it's time for bed.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Spamalot
Joining the list of the best musicals I've seen recently is the 2005 Tony Award winning Best Musical, Monty Python's Spamalot. Based on the legendary comedic film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," it was 2-hours of non-stop hilarity. Whether or not you are a fan of the original movie (I've seen the movie a handful of times, but have never been overtly obsessed with it like some people), you're bound to be entertained by the show. Cleverly toe-tapping numbers are abundant throughout the irrelevant plot. Anyone who has seen the original movie knows that the plot is only a clever way to get from one bit of randomness to another. Understandably, describing it to someone who has not seen the movie or musical before is an excercise in futility.
Since I know you're all looking forward to my classic rating scale...
Cast: 4 stars - no, really, there were only four stars in the show. Maybe not quite. But regardless, it was an outstanding cast of funny and entertaining characters.
Script: 4 stars - it would have to be.
Technical: 4 stars. Everything you would expect from a Broadway musical, though I reserve my 5-star rating for things that make me go "how'd they do that?" at least once.
Music: 5 stars - my toes were tapping most all the way through, and songs have been stuck in my head ever since. This will likely be making an appearance in my iPod-like-device shortly.
Overall: 4 stars - close to a 5-star musical, but lacking any obsession with the Monty Python genre, I give it a 4. Anyone who is a fan of Monty Python would certainly consider this a 5.
Since I know you're all looking forward to my classic rating scale...
Cast: 4 stars - no, really, there were only four stars in the show. Maybe not quite. But regardless, it was an outstanding cast of funny and entertaining characters.
Script: 4 stars - it would have to be.
Technical: 4 stars. Everything you would expect from a Broadway musical, though I reserve my 5-star rating for things that make me go "how'd they do that?" at least once.
Music: 5 stars - my toes were tapping most all the way through, and songs have been stuck in my head ever since. This will likely be making an appearance in my iPod-like-device shortly.
Overall: 4 stars - close to a 5-star musical, but lacking any obsession with the Monty Python genre, I give it a 4. Anyone who is a fan of Monty Python would certainly consider this a 5.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Weekend Update
[I wrote this originally on Sunday night, but apparently it didn't post. Pretend it did.]
What a busy weekend! Friday night I met up with a group of friends to go to the Seattle Symphony Pops' Sci-Fi Concert. We met for dinner at Rock Bottom downtown beforehand and had a good dinner before heading over to Benaroya Hall for the concert. The concert was outstanding. The main focus of the concert was the music of John Williams, including much music from Star Wars and Superman, as well as selections from Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Harry Potter. Though not exclusively John Williams music, the show included music from the various Star Trek series, as well as a medley of themes from TV shows spanning the past 40 years, from The Twilight Zone to the X-Files, and many others inbetween.
The show included a "laser light show", which frankly I could have done without. It was somewhat interesting, but entirely unnecessary, and on the whole unimpressive and hokey. They could have taken the $1.99 they spent on the laser show and put it to better use elsewhere.
Additional features included George Takei, Mr. Sulu from the original Star Trek series, who was "narrator" but really only played a small role by providing a few anecdotes prior to the Star Trek theme medley, as well as narrating the opening into to Star Trek. While we would have liked to see a bit more of him, he still was a good addition. A featured soprano, complete in uniform, was the highlight of the Star Trek medley as she adeptly sang the wordless melody to Star Trek. Overall, an outstanding performance to one of the more packed houses I've seen at Benaroya.
Saturday I met up with Kristen, Mark, Annie and Adam in the afternoon before Cat and Aaron's wedding. The wedding was at 6pm at Cat's church over on Queen Anne. It was a very nice ceremony, about an hour long but didn't nearly feel that long. The reception was downtown at the Women's University Club, a very posh social hall down on 6th and Spring. I have to say the reception, in addition to being in one of the classiest settings for a wedding reception I've seen, was also one of the most smoothly run. An emcee kept the entire reception moving, and it all went splendidly and was a fun event with fun people.
Sunday was a good day to relax. I was considering being productive, but afterall decided to stay around, do some grocery shopping and laundry, then watched the first episode of Ken Burns' new The War documentary. Now for another week of work, well, 4 days at least before I take my weekend trip to Disneyland this coming weekend. Hopefully it's not a long 4-day week.
What a busy weekend! Friday night I met up with a group of friends to go to the Seattle Symphony Pops' Sci-Fi Concert. We met for dinner at Rock Bottom downtown beforehand and had a good dinner before heading over to Benaroya Hall for the concert. The concert was outstanding. The main focus of the concert was the music of John Williams, including much music from Star Wars and Superman, as well as selections from Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Harry Potter. Though not exclusively John Williams music, the show included music from the various Star Trek series, as well as a medley of themes from TV shows spanning the past 40 years, from The Twilight Zone to the X-Files, and many others inbetween.
The show included a "laser light show", which frankly I could have done without. It was somewhat interesting, but entirely unnecessary, and on the whole unimpressive and hokey. They could have taken the $1.99 they spent on the laser show and put it to better use elsewhere.
Additional features included George Takei, Mr. Sulu from the original Star Trek series, who was "narrator" but really only played a small role by providing a few anecdotes prior to the Star Trek theme medley, as well as narrating the opening into to Star Trek. While we would have liked to see a bit more of him, he still was a good addition. A featured soprano, complete in uniform, was the highlight of the Star Trek medley as she adeptly sang the wordless melody to Star Trek. Overall, an outstanding performance to one of the more packed houses I've seen at Benaroya.
Saturday I met up with Kristen, Mark, Annie and Adam in the afternoon before Cat and Aaron's wedding. The wedding was at 6pm at Cat's church over on Queen Anne. It was a very nice ceremony, about an hour long but didn't nearly feel that long. The reception was downtown at the Women's University Club, a very posh social hall down on 6th and Spring. I have to say the reception, in addition to being in one of the classiest settings for a wedding reception I've seen, was also one of the most smoothly run. An emcee kept the entire reception moving, and it all went splendidly and was a fun event with fun people.
Sunday was a good day to relax. I was considering being productive, but afterall decided to stay around, do some grocery shopping and laundry, then watched the first episode of Ken Burns' new The War documentary. Now for another week of work, well, 4 days at least before I take my weekend trip to Disneyland this coming weekend. Hopefully it's not a long 4-day week.
Monday, September 17, 2007
I am a blogging slacker!
You know how it is when you get out of the habit of doing something, you tend to forget about it completely. Yes, such is my blog. When I'm not on vacation, I tend not to remember to put anything interesting here. BUT... today I shall change that. Today is the first day of the rest of my blog. Or something.
Did you notice how in that entire first paragraph, I had a lot of words and almost zero information. That's space filler, folks. Now for a barrage of updates:
Did you notice how in that entire first paragraph, I had a lot of words and almost zero information. That's space filler, folks. Now for a barrage of updates:
- Since I never really wrapped up my last vacation blog... yes, I made it home from Upstate New York. I posted the last few pictures I had previously forgotten to upload. Really nothing other than some long plane riding adventures complete the trip blog, and I actually do have one final blog entry that I scribbled down on a piece of paper while sitting on the plane on the way home. I'll probably get that posted in the next couple of days.
- Speaking of vacation, while posting the last of my vacation pictures, I also threw in some pictures from work I took one day when I happened to have my camera. Not too enthralling, but if you've ever wondered where I spend at least 40-hours a week, that can serve as a little glimpse into my world. Also on the topic of pictures, I still have a slew of pictures from Emily and Nathan's wedding in Yakima that I have yet to post. Maybe by their first anniversary I'll get around to that. Hmmm.
- Speaking of weddings, yet another wedding in the "Year of a Million Weddings" continues this weekend with Cat and Aaron's wedding. Fortunately, this is one of the few that don't require me travelling long distances to go to. And this time, lots of people will be in town this weekend for the festivities. Plus, on Friday night myself and a bunch of friends are going to the Seattle Symphony for their Sci-Fi Concert featuring music as expected, plus a laser light show (in Benaroya Hall, that should prove interesting) and narration by none other than George Takei, whom I last saw at a Husky halftime show riding around in a cardboard USS Enterprise that made me fear for his safety. Hmmm... should be interesting.
- Speaking of football, another season of Husky Football is once again upon us. After a 2-0 start to the season, the Dawgs had a sloppy game against Ohio State to come back to 2-1. Though overall, I'm not too disappointed about the game. We still look far better than any team that's taken the field the past several years, and good potential for a decent season.
- Speaking of a decent season, another year of curling is fast approaching. That chilly pasttime that seems to consume at least 3-nights a week, 6-months out of my year, is back again. This will be my 3rd year of throwing rocks at houses, plus to add to the mayhem, I agreed to take over as the league manager for the Friday night league. That should actually be more fun than not, though of course, yet another thing to add to my plate of things to do.
- Speaking of things to do, next weekend (after this one) I'm heading down to Disneyland for the weekend. I'm trying to squeeze out a bit of extra mileage out of my Annual Pass I got last October, and found next weekend to be the best time to do it. Not sure who else may show up as well... Amy may go down if she "has nothing better to do," and Heather may drive down from Encino to hang out with me for one of the days. But of course, it'll be fun no matter what. It's actually often easier to get around by myself, when all is said and done. :)
- Speaking of being done, I think that's the last of my updates for now.
Monday, September 03, 2007
Lakes and Falls
Saturday brought about a good day to drive around and see part of the scenery around Rochester. We drove up to Sea Breeze, NY, which as the name might imply (and might not, for that matter) is right on Irondequoit Bay up on Lake Ontario. We did some letterboxing in a park nearby and then continued around to see (a very small part) of Lake Ontario.
Then we went to the DCA Drum Corps World Championships, right down the street at Paetec Park in Rochester. The DCA is apparently the level below the self-proclaimed "major league of drum corps" which is DCI. But it was fun to go watch. We heard some good bands, and saw some good performances.
Sunday we headed over to Buffalo and then up to Niagra Falls. The falls were spectacular. The funny part to me is how the American side of the falls is a state park, with lots of green landscape and trees, whereas the Canadian side of the falls is mass commercialization. We started at the Horseshoe falls on the U.S. side and proceeded to walk all the way around through the crowded Labor Day Weekend masses, to the American Falls, and over the bridge to Canada. Most of the pictures you see of the falls are all taken of the American Falls from the Canadian side. But once you cross into Canada you feel like you've walked onto the Las Vegas strip, with wall-to-wall stores, Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood, wax museum, well, every other tourist trap attraction you could imagine. Nice to see capitalism is alive and well in Canada. We walked past most of that and walked up the Canadian side of the river, then turned around and headed back where we came from. Noticing the final insult, a 50-cent toll to leave Canada and get back into the U.S., we made our way back and after spending about 4 hours exploring the falls, headed back home.
A note of warning to those viewing my online photo album: there are about 3 dozen pictures of Niagra falls, from all different angles. No, I don't expect anyone to think half of the pictures are any different from the other half of them, but hey, some turned out better than others, why be picky? :)
Monday was Labor Day, though having a holiday in the middle of a vacation doesn't really feel much different than anything else. Today we went to a minor league baseball game between the Rochester Red Wings (AAA-Minnesota) and the Buffalo Bisons (AAA-Cleveland) in Rochester. Yes, that's bisonS with an S on the end... apparently rules of plurality don't matter when it's a sports team. It was a fun game to go to, about 10,000 fans showed up for the final game of the season, where neither team had any chance of making it to the playoffs, but the home team Red Wings were victorious 8-5.
After we returned we had dinner with some friends of the Gingras' from their church. And now it's time to wind down and get things ready to head home tomorrow night. It's been a nice vacation, but it's about time to head home, me thinks. Hopefully my airport adventures aren't too adventurous either.
Then we went to the DCA Drum Corps World Championships, right down the street at Paetec Park in Rochester. The DCA is apparently the level below the self-proclaimed "major league of drum corps" which is DCI. But it was fun to go watch. We heard some good bands, and saw some good performances.
Sunday we headed over to Buffalo and then up to Niagra Falls. The falls were spectacular. The funny part to me is how the American side of the falls is a state park, with lots of green landscape and trees, whereas the Canadian side of the falls is mass commercialization. We started at the Horseshoe falls on the U.S. side and proceeded to walk all the way around through the crowded Labor Day Weekend masses, to the American Falls, and over the bridge to Canada. Most of the pictures you see of the falls are all taken of the American Falls from the Canadian side. But once you cross into Canada you feel like you've walked onto the Las Vegas strip, with wall-to-wall stores, Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood, wax museum, well, every other tourist trap attraction you could imagine. Nice to see capitalism is alive and well in Canada. We walked past most of that and walked up the Canadian side of the river, then turned around and headed back where we came from. Noticing the final insult, a 50-cent toll to leave Canada and get back into the U.S., we made our way back and after spending about 4 hours exploring the falls, headed back home.
A note of warning to those viewing my online photo album: there are about 3 dozen pictures of Niagra falls, from all different angles. No, I don't expect anyone to think half of the pictures are any different from the other half of them, but hey, some turned out better than others, why be picky? :)
Monday was Labor Day, though having a holiday in the middle of a vacation doesn't really feel much different than anything else. Today we went to a minor league baseball game between the Rochester Red Wings (AAA-Minnesota) and the Buffalo Bisons (AAA-Cleveland) in Rochester. Yes, that's bisonS with an S on the end... apparently rules of plurality don't matter when it's a sports team. It was a fun game to go to, about 10,000 fans showed up for the final game of the season, where neither team had any chance of making it to the playoffs, but the home team Red Wings were victorious 8-5.
After we returned we had dinner with some friends of the Gingras' from their church. And now it's time to wind down and get things ready to head home tomorrow night. It's been a nice vacation, but it's about time to head home, me thinks. Hopefully my airport adventures aren't too adventurous either.
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