Mama's House

I don't know why Annette insists on sending out invitations through the mail to us cousins when she can post to this site. Now in case you haven't gotten that invitation the details are:

Sunday, January 20
10-12:15
@ Creative Leap
at this location,

View Larger Map

Not sure if this is so much just a little kids thing or what but I think pizza is involved.

Any suggestions as to where and when this month we can hold our next one? Fish and chips with karaoke and a pint perhaps? Comment away.

This site will ask you for a username and password:
username: user
pass: m4l

jens lekman - night falls over kortedala

The Go! Team - Proof of Youth

Austin named his album as the best album he heard in 2007. That begs a few questions. I'll start by asking is the album even any good? Well, based on 11 reviews on Amazon.com it's averaging 4 1/2 out of 5 stars so it must be good - to at least 10 out of those 11. Exactly how much music did Austin sample before declaring Jens the best of 2007? He says, "This list was the most difficult to make there was a lot of good music and and [sic] equal amount of bad music out there that I have sampled this year." He then goes on to list his top 5 albums so we are assured that Jens' album is at least the best album out of 10. How did Austin hear about this Jens Lekman to begin with? He credits pitchfork for the find but who or what is pitchfork? I'm thinking a link would have helped. Last question I want to ask, is Austin being pretentious by naming some obscure Swedish indie-pop album as his favorite of 2007 or am I completely oblivious to really good music? Close one, but probably the latter.

*I said I was going to post daily to this blog as one of my resolutions. Consider this the first of many to be lame thrown together at the last minute so-I-don't-break-one-of-my-dumb-resolutions-posts.

That title was weird to put up. Anyway, if you didn't make it to Mama's today you should each say "Have mercy on the soul of ________," at least fifty times while being reminded of the sorrowful mysteries; throw in a few "Pray for the soul of_______;" and "O Lord deliver _______;" and you've basically recreated the night here at Mama's. And no, copying and pasting everything in the comment section does not count.

And let perpetual light shine upon you.

UPDATE:

Per my resolution to read a book a week:

If you ever wanted to learn the difference between causality and correlation or how the tools of economics can be applied to figuring out questions like "why do drug dealers live with their moms" or "how is the KKK like a group of real-estate agents," then this book is for you. It may also get you to start challenging conventional wisdom although in all likelihood it would be with much less striking questions than those introducing each chapter.

The chapter I found most interesting was the one which asked, "do parents really matter?" And let me just say, things aren't necessarily so bad for Jayden and co.

If anyone wants to borrow my copy just ask.

Found via The Corner:

After the funeral of his friend Pope John Paul II., Joseph Ratzinger thought he'd be able to return home to Germany after 24 years in Rome. He had a plan - writing stories, stories about cats.

Joseph Ratzinger had cats around himself for decades, as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The CDF is on the Via Aurelia, one of the most traffic-heavy streets in Rome. Daily, cats are killed or injured. Quite a few drag themselves into the garden of the CDF, where Ratzinger resided and movingly cared for them, feeding them, bandaging their wounds, watching them lie in the sun and slowly get better. And he gave names to all of them.

He wanted to write about these cats, but the election to the Papacy foiled these plans....

If you'll recall, I promised myself to learn how to cook one new dish each week of 2008. Last night was the first occasion to do so. To help keep myself honest I'm going to post each recipe I try.

So the first thing I tried to make comes from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook. The dish is called Mexican Style Lime and Cilantro Poached Chicken or something like that - too lazy to look it up in the book. Despite the lengthy name it's given - or that I've given it - it's a real easy dish to cook that requires very few ingredients and little preparation. So give it a try.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken 3-4 lbs.
  
• 4 or so sprigs of Cilantro
  
• 1 lime
  
• 3 cloves of garlic peeled
  
• salt and pepper

Instructions:

• Wash and dry chicken
  
• Season chicken inside with salt and pepper
  
• Place chicken in slow cooker and squeeze the juice of the lime all over chicken
  
• Stuff chicken with the used lime, cilantro, and garlic
  
• Season chicken on the outside with salt and pepper
  
• Cook on low for about 6 to 8 hours
  
• Remove chicken from slow cooker and save the drippings and place in fridge
  
• When chicken is cool enough, remove the skin

That's pretty much it. The important thing here is to save the drippings because that's where most of the flavor is and you'll be able to use it as a sauce. You can either skim off the fatty part of the liquid or you could place the drippings in the fridge and later skim off the fat, of course that takes more time.

Serving Suggestions:

• Place drippings in a pot and heat up a little to further reduce to use as a sauce
  
• You can then either eat the chicken carved up with rice and beans, or
  
• You can pick the meat off the bones and use it to make chicken tacos, or
  
• Use the chicken meat in any mexican dish like tostada, quesadilla, or nachos
  
• Be sure to cover the chicken with the sauce though or otherwise the chicken may be a little too bland

How did mine come out? Well I tried to make soft chicken tacos but the tortillas we had weren't the best for that purpose and because I was feeling a bit rushed I decided to save the drippings instead of using it to sauce the chicken so it was a little bland. The chicken was also a little cold after I was finished prepping it for tacos so it may have been a good idea to have reheated the shredded chicken in the pan with the drippings.

Anyway, lessons learned and I've got leftover chicken and the drippings to try new things. By the way, do those new things count towards my new dish for each week? Or do I have to come up with something completely different for next week? Well one down, fifty-one more to go.

Lindsey (1:50:55 PM): now i know what it feels like to be bubba from forest gump
Bruin7089 (1:51:04 PM): why?
Bruin7089 (1:51:09 PM): You keep eating shrimp?
Lindsey (1:51:23 PM): no cause i feel like i have a fatty lip
Bruin7089 (1:51:30 PM): Why do you have a fat lip?
Lindsey (1:51:46 PM): i got my wisdom teeth pulled out this morning
Bruin7089 (1:52:04 PM): just go to bed
Lindsey (1:52:16 PM): i am and have been
Lindsey (1:52:23 PM): my stupid surgery was at 8 am
Lindsey (1:52:40 PM): whatever shit they use to knock you out was the best sleep ive ever had
Bruin7089 (1:52:46 PM): i don't know
Bruin7089 (1:52:50 PM): When i had mine pulled
Bruin7089 (1:52:59 PM): i kinda woke up right after it was over
Bruin7089 (1:53:23 PM): i woke up as they were wheeling me out to the car
Lindsey (1:53:48 PM): yeah same here
Lindsey (1:54:00 PM): i was trying to go back to sleep when i woke up
Lindsey (1:54:09 PM): and the lady was like no no dont go back to sleep
Bruin7089 (1:54:13 PM): that sucks
Lindsey (1:54:25 PM): lady didnt want to lift me from the chair
Bruin7089 (1:54:26 PM): ahahahahahahaha
Bruin7089 (1:54:30 PM): bitch
Lindsey (1:54:38 PM): seriously.
Bruin7089 (1:54:39 PM): i think that's why i woke up too
Lindsey (1:54:50 PM): hahah bitches
Lindsey (1:56:38 PM): but it was cool when i first woke up at home i thought i was alright and then everything started to go white and i got really weak. it was quite the experience

In case anyone forgot, it was Angelynne's 1st birthday yesterday. Some of the things we've learned about her over the course of that first year are:

• She likes avocados
  
• She likes to be spun around
  
• Her poo is green
  
• She crawls like she's Spider-Baby on cold floors
  
• She likes to be thrown up in the air
  
• She cries on really long road trips the entire way
  
• She likes mashed potatoes
  
• Her favorite toy sings the alphabet
  
• She loves crawling up stairs
  
• She will occasionally bounce around to GHIII or Rock Band
  
• She loves Mickey Mouse
  
• She prefers milk over hard liquor
  
• Her idea is Paris Hilton
  
• She has a bratty brother and sister
  
• She has the coolest and smartest first cousins once removed
  
• She loves her naps
  
• She prefers dogs over cats
  
• Her idea of a perfect idea is a romantic candle lit dinner followed by a long stumbling walk on the beach

Happy Birthday Angelynne!

Replacement for the legendary Steve Perry is Filipino.

Read the article from Journey's Official Website.

YouTube video of CNN story

Performance with his old cover band the Zoo

...that is all

If you didn't catch this item about The World Famous Mud Run from the sidebar or my Google Reader page then shame on you. Here are the essentials:

The Mud Run is a challenging 10K run with hills, tire obstacles, river crossings, two 5-foot walls with mud on both sides, tunnel crawl, slippery hill climb, and the final 30-foot mud pit. Along the course there will be 6 water points with personnel staged at each. This is the most fun you can have running a 10K!

There's also a $50 registration fee and the race dates are June 7th, 8th, and the 14th. Registration is open to the first 4,000 for each race. LAist says it fills up by the end of January.

Why do this? Well I think it's great idea as a fitness goal that will help motivate me to keep a few of my New Year's Resolutions. Every time I tire while doing cardio, the mere thought of "Suicide Hill" will make me pick up the pace. Every time I think of passing on bench pressing, the idea that I'll have to push myself up to get my face out of mud will keep me from ending my workout early. Plus, how cool would it be to make it through an obstacle course with one of the obstacles named "Suicide Hill?"

Anyway, you can race in teams of 5 so I'm trying to do it that way, but if we end up with a number more than 5 that doesn't break down into teams of 5 we can all race together regardless and make sure each of us finishes. Lindsey and Austin have already committed. I think I've got another friend who will commit by this weekend and Lindsey says she also has a friend willing to join up in the team if needed. So that might be 5 already but if anyone wants to join let me know so we can all register for the same race day. Also, Lindsey says we can crash at her place for the entire weekend so maybe we can make it a weekend trip to San Diego.

So not only will you motivate yourself to get fit by signing up for this but it promises to be fun a lot of ways too. So stop being a prissy bitch and commit to this already! Seriously, let me know soon because I want to register by the end of this weekend.

Surprised; that's how I would describe myself last night after I had asked people individually about their New Year's Resolutions. Not because people came up with exciting ideas to better themselves but because, other than EJ, everyone pretty much blew off coming up with resolutions for this year. At first I thought they were just too busy, lazy, or had forgotten to come up with one but given time they simply refused to come up with any. I joked that it was probably because they were perfect so there was no need them to partake in a time honored tradition.

The common attitude seemed to be, what's the point? Not that it was too hard to come up with something or that they simply had forgotten to formulate one but a definite "who cares" attitude prevailed. Or more precisely - since by asking, I for one did care - it was a "why should I care" attitude. When did a majority of my aunts, uncles, and cousins stopped caring to consciously commit - because I'm talking about New Year's Resolutions here I use the term "commit" loosely - themselves to self-improvement?

Anyway, I thought it would be both insightful to see what others thought they would like to improve themselves on and fun to encourage/discourage them from doing so. Instead I come away a little disappointed.

Picture Credit.

EJ's woman says that our innocent little Annalynne looks just like the not so innocent Tila Tequila. So I decided to do a side-by-side comparison to see if that's true or not. Try to guess who's who.



Now for those who may have been confused that's Annalynne on the right and Tila Tequila on the left. Ok, so maybe that wasn't a fair comparison. What about the following?



I still don't see it. I mean other than the lounging on the couch thing there's not much to confuse the two. So let's do a couple more just to be really sure before I call EJ's woman blind.





Ok, those are fair comparisons and you know what? I think I'm actually coming around to seeing what EJ's woman was seeing. Ok one last comparison to be completely thorough with these comparisons.

Well what can I say other than I stand corrected. I think we can all agree that if Annalynne maybe just grows out her hair a little more then EJ's woman was correct in saying that Annalynne looks just like Tila Tequila.

On the way home from Vegas we passed over the Hoover Dam.

Darryll: Does anyone know what a dam is?
Paloma: A bad word.
Darryll: Okay, well besides that?
Kids: No clue, what is it?
Darryll: Well, its something built to restrict the passage of water.....in some cases its a way of capturing energy for other uses and beavers also build dams as part of their habitat.
Angela: Well how many beavers did it take to build this Hoover Dam?

Paloma and Angela spend the day on the couch as punishment. Yelling is limited to 10 cusswords and 4 sentences distributed at an aggravated level. Darryll does nothing because Sonia has shopped all the money away and I lost my spending money in Vegas, but I did try to eat my money's worth at various buffets. I currently weigh CLXXIII pounds.........doesn't look so bad in Roman Numerals.

UPDATE: By the way, in an attempt to get more responses, if you don't leave a comment about your resolutions I'll come up with a few for each of you. Do you really want that to happen?

Leave a comment telling everyone what your New Year's Resolutions are and maybe we can keep each other honest. I think a couple of mine are more than obvious to anyone:

• Get a job.
  
• Lose 25 pounds.
  
• Eat healthier.
  
• Keep going to the gym at least 4x a week.
  
• Bench press 225.
  
• Run 5 miles on the elliptical in 30 mins.
  
• Post on this blog daily.
  
• Read 1 book a week.
  
• Get better than Darryll on Rock Band drums.
  
• Don't let Jayden get better than me on Rock Band drums.
  
• Spend less time in front of tv.
  
• Learn to cook one new dish a week.
  

Relatedly, who is showing up tonight?

I know my political posts here are probably going to fall on deaf ears considering most of you who read this site are either avowed Democrats or apolitical. But I'm going to post it anyway so feel free to skip - really, you won't be hurting my feelings - or consider something new for a change.

Seriously, how can you not vote for Fred Thompson after watching this video? I'd like to echo the following sentiment,

While the other contenders are frantically saturating the Iowa airwaves with 30- and 60-second attack ads... Thompson has sat himself down, looked into a camera, and spoken for a quarter of an hour, calmly and straightforwardly making his case. I myself find this impressive—in a way, moving. Thompson seems to have stepped out of the eighteenth century. He trusts voters to think. And if the comments on YouTube are at all representative, plenty of people agree.

Politics as, from time to time at least, they really ought to be.

I'd like to emphasize that this video highlights how different of a political campaign Fred Thompson is running from the traditional campaigns that his opponents are running. It's that difference that I believe has led to the poor coverage of Fred's campaign. Coverage that I hope has led many of the talking heads on tv to underestimate Fred and his chances. And who knows, but if Fred were to be successful maybe this could be the start of getting more politics as they "really ought to be" and shouldn't that be reason enough to vote for Fred?

Now even if you're a Democrat you've got to consider him after his Reaganesque appeal towards the end.

You know, when I'm asked which of the current group of Democratic candidates I prefer to run against, I always say it really doesn't matter…These days all those candidates, all the Democratic leaders, are one and the same. They’re all NEA-MoveOn.org-ACLU-Michael Moore Democrats. They’ve allowed these radicals to take control of their party and dictate their course.

So this election is important not just to enact our conservative principles. This election is important to salvage a once-great political party from the grip of extremism and shake it back to its senses. It's time to give not just Republicans but independents, and, yes, good Democrats a chance to call a halt to the leftward lurch of the once-proud party of working people.

So in seeking the nomination of my own party, I want to say something a little unusual. I am asking my fellow Republicans to vote for me not only for what I have to say to them, but for what I have to say to the members of the other party—the millions of Democrats who haven't left the Democratic party so much as their party's national leadership has left them.

Setting: Austin and I go to Guitar Center to buy new drumsticks for Rock Band. We become immediately overwhelmed by the sight of a wall cubby full of various drumsticks.

Guitar Center Dude (GCD): Can I help you guys?
Austin: We're just looking for some drumsticks.
GCD: What kind? 5A, 5B...?
Me: Uh... we're kinda new to this.
Austin: Yeah, what's the difference between 5A and 5B?
GCD: They refer to different sizes. You guys have any idea what you're looking for?
Me: Not yet, we're just going to look around.
GCD: Ok.

After looking around for about 10 minutes, Austin and I decide to go for the cheapest sticks.

Me: We'll just take the cheapest sticks you got.
GCD (Sensing he's dealing with completely lame posers.): The cheapest?
Me (Sensing what GCD is sensing.): Yeah, the cheapest ones, we're probably just going to break these also anyway and end up coming back for another pair.
GCD: That'll be $3.50. Are you guys getting these for a video game?
Me (Not sure how to respond to being called out for being completely lame.): Huh?
Austin (Also not wanting to look completly lame he decides to play the "act incredulous" card.): No, no, who does a thing like that?
GCD: We've had quite a few people doing that recently.
Ausin: That's lame.
Me (Following Austin's lead.): There's a video game out for drums?!
GCD (With a tone suggesting he's not buying our BS.): Yeah.
Austin: What's it called?
GCD: I think it's called Rock Band.
Austin: Never heard of it.
Me: Why don't they just learn to play real drums?
GCD: Here's your change. Have a good evening.
Me: Thanks, you too.

So my mom really wants to know who's coming to New Years Eve get together at my house. Comment if you can come or not... thanks!

As Annette commented, her pictures are now included in the Christmas 2007 set along with pictures from EJ's camera. Also from EJ, we have pictures from Tita Agnes' birthday celebration at Castaways and from Annalynne's Christmas party.

UPDATE: Pics from my dad's camera.

The Kinks - Father Christmas


Hope you all had fun last night, I know I did. If anyone has already uploaded pictures from last night to the internets please post the corresponding link in the comments. Thanks!

Again Happy Holidays!

Annette: Do you like everyone Jayden?
Jayden: Yeah, everyone except for Austin.
Annette: Why not Austin?
Jayden: Because he sucks at Rock Band... he can't sing!

Look who decided to get back into the swing of things. I guess we can now get back to our favorite pastime of checking that site regularly for not so regular postings. Does this mean less posting at this site from Austin? Probably. Does it mean that austin-web.com is going to have more posts than this site now? Probably not.

I think the following video will suffice as an answer.

I don't know why Annette doesn't post things like this, because she certainly should, but in case anyone is in the mood to applaud/throw rotten tomatoes at Jayden, he will be performing in a Christmas show for St. John Eudes at 7pm tonight.

Just a heads up... I need to have the money collected by the 20th.. So either call me and bring it by or bring it to Mama's.. But please remind your parents as well. Lastly, who is in with the alcohol exchange? I need to get those wrapped up as well..


BTW: Anyone have big white boards for pictionary? And any suggestions on some gift card prizes or should we have it just cash prizes?

Setting: Getting ready to play Rock Band as Popes Gone Wild.

Lindsey: Wouldn't it be cool if there were an actual Pope band?
Me: Popes Gone Wild is that band.
Lindsey: No, I mean a real life band.
Me: Popes Gone Wild is real. Don't ruin this for me Lindsey.
Lindsey: But it would be awesome if there was a real Pope band.
Me: You mean a band made up of actual Popes?
Lindsey: Yeah, that would be so cool if Popes decided to get together to form a band.
Me: You know there's only one actual Pope at a given time since they serve until they die.
Lindsey: Well maybe it could be the Pope and his assistants that form the band.
Me: Like The Pope and The Bishops?
Lindsey: Yeah.
Me: Dork.

December 21: Arrive in Chatsworth, eat at In & Out, and proceed to challenge anyone in Rock Band. Also say hi to Mom, Dad, and Grandma.

December 22: More of the above.

December 23: Last minute Xmas shopping and them more of the above.

December 24: Partake in Xmas festivities.

December 25: Do some praying on the slopes.

December 26: See friends and more of the same.

December 27 & 28: Vegas.

December 29: Back to TX.

austin (12:05:11 AM): dodgers have everything they need... starting pitching bad ass from japan... a new bat... new manager... it's fucking word series season
austin (12:05:12 AM): i feel
Bruin7089 (12:05:09 AM): that guy is 33
Bruin7089 (12:05:16 AM): and no guarantee he will be good
austin (12:05:34 AM): he's good
Bruin7089 (12:05:22 AM): that new bat
Bruin7089 (12:05:28 AM): had the worst season of his career last year
austin (12:05:44 AM): jones is solid
Bruin7089 (12:05:53 AM): and the manager couldn't win with the most highly paid team in history
austin (12:06:24 AM): ny yankees were a bunch of over paid bitches
Bruin7089 (12:06:43 AM): a lot of people say that about the Dodgers
Bruin7089 (12:07:16 AM): there was a funny headline that read, "Girl hits man on the head with potato. Dodgers sign her for 15 million a year."
austin (12:07:39 AM): lies

I don't know about y'all (<----------- TX roots baby <----------- Scotty Nguyen influence) but I don't think my faith in Christianity is strong enough to skip out on a trip to Mt High on Xmas day.  In fact, I'd probably do more worshipping flying off jumps praying I land intact.  Someone please find the tickets deals and let's get trip going.

Lindsey: Tagalog is going to be the end of me.
Bruin7089: just keep studying
Bruin7089: I need someone to translate all the Tagalog gossip at our family gatherings
Lindsey: I can translate if they're introducing each others' names
Bruin7089: Dork
Lindsey: Or if they're talking about shapes and colors

Also from Lindsey's AIM:

Ano ang pangalan ko?
Ilang bagay ang berde?
Saan ka nakatira?
Taga-saan ka?

I don't really care...

No, this is not another Squishie and The Prophets post. Rather it's a Dodgers post. Go Dodgers!

All-Star center fielder Andruw Jones and the Los Angeles Dodgers reached a preliminary agreement Wednesday night on a two-year, $36.2 million contract, SI.com has confirmed.

That's the great news, now for the "say it ain't so" part.

The Dodgers are expected to move Juan Pierre to left field, leaving Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier for right. The surplus of outfielders could make either Kemp or Ethier expendable.

Are you serious!? Juan Pierre getting a spot ahead of Ethier or Kemp!? SAY IT AIN'T SO!

In my never ending quest to provide as much a steady stream of content as possible I've decided to include clips of shared items from my Google Reader. For those who don't know, Google Reader is described by Wiki as "a Web-based aggregator, capable of reading Atom and RSS feeds online or offline." Or more simply put by Google,

Stay up to date
Google Reader constantly checks your favorite news sites and blogs for new content. Whether a site updates daily or monthly, you can be sure that you won't miss a thing.

Simplify your reading experience
Google Reader shows you all of your favorite sites in one convenient place. It's like a personalized inbox for the entire web.

I started using Google Reader only yesterday and I'm already in love with it.

So basically I'm sharing with all of you articles I've come across the web that I found at least semi-interesting enough to share. If any of you use Google Reader or any other aggregator and would like to share what they like to read on the web here, feel free to send me the necessary code and I'll update the site.

Bruin7089: are you really learning how to throw a ball?
lindsey: im doinga project on it
lindsey: for my kinesiology class
Bruin7089: so are you throwing a ball or what?
lindsey: no.
Bruin7089: are you going to be able to teach someone how to throw a ball?
lindsey: we're just talking about the mechanics and the phases it goes through. and the injuries
lindsey: yeah
Bruin7089: really?
lindsey: i researched step by step instructions on how to
Bruin7089: so you're going to know how to throw one and with practice you'll be good at it?
lindsey: possibly
Bruin7089: Could you teach your brother how to throw a ball?
lindsey: hahaha ill send him my project to read

ARE WE COOKING AGAIN????
Mama has been asking me if are going to be cooking again. Wayne suggested that who ever wants to cook, either cousins or Tita's would be better. So let me know which of you would like to contribute a dish for Christmas so I could let mama know.

This year rather than our $15 gift exchange, I will be collecting $15 dollars from everyone. Tita's, Tito's, Cousins and anyone who will be participating. So let your parents know. The money collected will be used for prizes for games played. This year I decided to do something different so we will be playing games like pictionary, karaoke, mad gab, possibly rock band or guitar hero, etc.. Let me know what other games we could play. But I would like to have all the money collected by Dec 20th so I could get some other stuff rather than just cash as prizes...

Last but not least I mentioned this idea to a couple cousins... The alcohol exchange amongst the cousins or any adults that would like to be included... Price range is 25 bucks of either alcohol and glasses or just alcohol. Just make sure its worth 25 bucks... Let me know whos in or out for this...Cause i know Joni already got hers...

Let me know asap about all three things....

From that list, I can recall playing six of them:

Contra
TMNT
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out
Friday The 13th
Ninja Gaiden
Mega Man

Of those six I remember finishing only Contra and Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. Mike Tyson was particularly frustrating and satisfying when finally finished. And I don't I would've passed Contra without the cheat code. As for the other games, I remember spending a lot of time with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on The Dam level. Such fond memories.

Outside of those games mentioned I didn't really come across any other frustratingly impossible games. It was perhaps because Darryll and I stuck mostly to sports games which weren't frustratingly difficult to beat. Unless it was me trying to beat Darryll in a basketball game that is.

A notable exception would be Smash TV and its neverending waves of swarming enemies, which Mehran has far fonder memories of than I do.

Mama’s House Correspondent: So Moses what do you have to say to those critics who say your performances are all style and no substance? That in effect, although your stage performance is amazing, your actual vocals suck.

Moses: For those that have seen the webcasts, will come to realize that it's not all about the vocals. It's about grace and the show. Let's take the wonderfully talented and beautiful Britney Spears. She has the best show on earth, like the past VMA performance. Her vocals may not have been all there... but the dance moves were amazing and thus put on a great show.

Mama’s House Correspondent: But because of your vocals, could the Squishies and The Prophets ever put out a quality album or is Squishie and The Prophets meant to be experienced live in concert only?

Moses: That's a good question, and even though the raw vocals may not be of the bestest quality, a studio re-edit of the raw data will fix the extremely minute imperfections in the vocal quality of the performance.

Mama’s House Correspondent: Fair enough. Why, if you're the band leader and lead vocalist, is the band called Squishie and The Prophets and not Moses and The Prophets?

Moses: In coming up with the band name, I was extremely intoxicated. Thus the decision was not made with a sane state of mind. I think this was done on purpose as Moses would not have agreed to such ludacrious bull shit. Squishies as a ho. No one likes her... she's like the anti-Gweyn Stefani

Mama’s House Correspondent: On that note, two questions remain. Any truth to the rumors that Metatron is being replaced as drummer for the band?

Moses: yes. First of all Metatron... what kind of bullshit name is that. It's like someone got hammered and couldn't full come up with the name of Megatron. Second of all, Metatron has no stage presence. Third, he may be the worst band name. Fourth, W-T-F kind of name is Metatron? ... seriously

Tropical Goodies or Goody or wahtever his name is... now that's a fucking name

Mama’s House Correspondent: Ok last question in three parts. All the fans of Squishie and The Prophets want to know if you're thinking of starting another band? Whether Squishie and The Prophets will ever perform together again? And if you should ever start a new band, why should current fans of Squishie and The Prophets come out to see the new band?

Moses: Yes, there is a new band being formed that is more Moses-centric becauses Moses knows what all the Moses groupies want ... and that's more Moses. As for whether or not squishie and the prophets performing again... we'll have to wait for Squishie and get back to me and whether or not she will stop hogging the stage and open it up for The Moses to rock out. Now as for the current fans of squishie.... We'll see more of Moses and Moses will be more drunk singing the tunes that squishie fans have come to expects.

Mama’s House Correspondent: Thanks for the time Moses. Any last words you would like to share?

Moses: no thank you, Mama's-fonaciers.blogspot.com has always been nice to Moses and has given Moses his first strike at fame

yaz: parents are weird and so damn overprotective
Bruin7089: yours are?
Bruin7089: or in general?
yaz: Not mine
yaz: New parents
Bruin7089: do you care to tell me why you're thinking this?
yaz: I am not saying anyone in specific
yaz: But they freak out abuot germs and shit
yaz: like my brother
yaz: if someone coughs it is like they go all michael jackson on the kids
yaz: Fucknig masks, sequester the kids
Bruin7089: maybe it's just one of those things we can't understand because we're not in that role
yaz: Bubble kids
yaz: Fuck that
yaz: I hope my kid gets every illness, besides the ones that kill you
yaz: Makes them stronger
yaz: we are really breading a generation of pussy ass kids
Bruin7089: well that's the thing
Bruin7089: how do you know it's not the illness that will kill the kid?
yaz: Seriously, it is getting out of hand
Bruin7089: it's your first kid
Bruin7089: i bet if your brother has a second kid
Bruin7089: He'll be less overbearing
Bruin7089: or protective
yaz: he has one
yaz: same damn thing
yaz: It is ridiculous
yaz: Has to be complete silence and darkness for the kids to sleep
yaz: I mean come on
Bruin7089: are you mad because you couldn't watch tv with them in the next room?
yaz: I want my kids to be able to sleep through a fucking train wreck
Bruin7089: did they interrupt your Gossip Girl time?
yaz: I am pissed because this country is going to hell in a pussy ass hand bag full of pussy ass kids
yaz: No spanking, organic baby food, no germs, no playing in the dirt, no getting sick, no going out in the rain, here's a fucking trophy when you lose
yaz: Dont run up the score, it hurts kids feelings
yaz: No strikeouts in baseball
Bruin7089: jesus
yaz: Rewards for doing what you are supossed to do
yaz: No chatter on the baseball diamond
Bruin7089: why don't you just go over to your brother's and hit the kid
yaz: My kids are going to hate me
Bruin7089: yeah right
Bruin7089: you talk tough now
yaz: My wife will divorce me for being mentally abusive to my kids
Bruin7089: she's supposed to divorce you because you're spending too much time at work alone with the hot secretary
yaz: Well that too
yaz: I hope
Bruin7089: so you're getting divorced on more than one ground
Bruin7089: nice
yaz: Well I mean if you are going to go, go big right?
Bruin7089: A future husband and father of the year in the making
yaz: I try my best

Feel free to discuss. I'm particularly interested in knowing if any of the youngin's in our family is in danger of becoming one of these "pussy ass kids."

As you may or may not all know, I'm a bit of a political nerd - which happens to be just one type of nerd I am. So being the political nerd that I am the following strikes me as particularly amusing.

One of the few stories about Papa and Mama that will always stay with me is how they happened to choose their political affiliations here in the US. As some of you may not have known, Papa was a registered republican and Mama is a registered democrat. Having became aware of that fact I asked how that came to be. I don't know if it was the idealist or the romantic in me, but I more than expected a tale of passionate, intelligent political discourse followed by an agreement to respect one another's beliefs as they went their separate ways when registering to vote; and despite diverse political ideologies they were able to maintain a committed loving relationship. So that's what I wanted to believe.

Well here's the truth. I was told that they were at Fedco when they saw a pair of lines to register to vote. I don't know if they thought it was their duty as American citizens to register or what but they decided to get in line. Of course, in true filipino style, they decided to each go into separate lines to make the process of getting registered quicker. Turned out that the lines were distinctly separated for purposes of registering republicans in one line and registering democrats in the other line. So without giving a thought about their political beliefs and which party best represented those beliefs they got into separate lines hoping that the lines moved fast so that they could finally get out of Fedco.

So that is the tale of how Papa came to be a republican and how Mama came to be a democrat.

As requested by Uncle Arthur on the thread on Geni (yes I do read it)...

Here is a link to some Family Reunion pictures, some of which I took on my camera, and some that Lindsey or Austin took.

click me to see the pics

p.s. Please disregard the pictures from the L.A. County Fair at the end of the album haha

p.p.s. I also posted a link to Thanksgiving pictures in the comments section of an earlier post.

We will be live broadcasting the show on the internets tonight @ 8pm!

Squishie and The Prophets

moses
squishie
metatron
Learned Hand

PERFORM A

ONE NIGHT EVENT EXTRAVAGANZA

TONIGHT ONLY!
@
Mama's House

LADIES NIGHT!!!!!
ladies free all night long

No Cover Before 10 pm.


2 drink minimum

Here are some of my photos posted on Lindsey's flickr account. It was difficult this time around with the crappy lighting.

Well other than the untimeliness of some - it's ok, we're all filipinos - this year's Thanksgiving went really well. Nothing that made it on to this year's Thanksgiving table was offensive. In fact, it wouldn't be hyperbole to say that all the food was pretty damn good. Mike's candied yams were nice and sweet. Melanie's cheesy mac and EJ's mashed potatoes were gobbled - pun intended - up quickly. Mehran's enchilada casserole were good enough to have been ordered up again by my mom. Oliver's guacamole recipe was asked for. There's no more of Sara's fruit salad. Jason's Fayes's ham was moist and full of flavor. Annette's pansit didn't disappoint the filipinos. Vanessa's and Lindsey's pies tasted better than what anyone else in this family could bake. And lastly, I didn't burn the house down when cooking the turkey. It all made for a very successful Thanksgiving.

Thank you all for cooking! And again, happy Thanksgiving!

Joni: Balut
Tita Elma: Egg rolls

Along with Mehran's chicken enchiladas and Annette's pancit I would hardly consider this year's Thanksgiving to be a "white" Thanksgiving as Vanessa put it.

And can someone tell me exactly when and why Thanksgivings started being classified by race? Is that like some new affirmative action program I haven't heard of? If that's so, should I be considering (i.e. leaning towards) a more minority oriented Thanksgiving?

In case any of you are worried about how the turkey will end up, and you would be right to, I thought I'd make the occasional progress report to keep you all informed about what's happening with the big bird. By the way, if it sounds like anywhere in my preparations for the turkey that I'm in danger of giving anyone food poisoning or, as Faye puts it, mud butt, l strongly encourage you to give me a call.

Well I've been reading everywhere that it takes 24 hours for every 4-5 pounds of turkey to defrost it in the refrigerator. I've also read that it will keep in the fridge, after it has been defrosted, anywhere from 1 to 4 days. I bought about a 16 pound turkey and decided to be on the safer side of the 1 to 4 days. Given that I want to brine the turkey I started defrosting the turkey yesterday late afternoon. Now after over 12 hours of defrosting the turkey is still hard as a rock.

If all does not go so well in the refrigerator I suppose I could finish the defrosting process in the sink before I start to brine it. That's the backup plan anyway.

Here's what we have so far:

Annette: Pansit and snacks
Melanie: Mac and cheese and jams
EJ: Mashed potatoes
Faye: Ham dinner package
Mehran: Chicken enchiladas
Vanessa: Pie
Wayne: Turkey

That's a lot of food right there. I guess we could use another dessert and maybe a salad, but we definitely don't need anymore main course type of dishes and I think we're fine with the side dishes as well. However, we do need drinks and perhaps a bag of ice. Otherwise we're pretty much all set as far as the menu is concerned.

Make note that it's going to be at Mama's this year and that the turkey will be ready to serve at 12:30. It's pretty much going to be going on all day though so feel free to come early if you want, especially since I have the potential to burn down the house by deep frying the turkey, trust me you wouldn't want to miss that. And if you have significant other's families to visit that day too, then feel free to come early or late but if you're bringing food please drop it off first if you're going to be having dinner instead of lunch with us.

Also, let me get a head count of who is coming so that everyone can know how much food to prepare. Thanks!

I know it's been awhile since the last post. But there really isn't any family related news to post or at least I'm not privy to any, but if any of you do know what's going on with family or want to share anything that may interest the family, please do post. If not, you're going to have to suffer more and more of my non-family related posts like the one below.

I was watching NBC's Las Vegas - guilty pleasure of mine so don't judge - last night and I remarked to a friend how NBC's "Green Week" campaign was really annoying me to the point where I wanted to go out and hurt the earth. Don't get me wrong, I didn't aspire to nuke it or anything like that but more like go stomp on some flowers or leave an unnecessary light on. At the time I didn't know why it bothered me so much. I thought maybe it was that it turned my entertainment into a bully pulpit of sorts and the shows came off as being preachy in a sort of you must join our cult or suffer eternal damnation way. But that wasn't really it. So what was it? Well I think Jonah Goldberg explains it real well.

[Y]ou've seen the tyranny of Green even if you've never turned on NBC.

Green is everywhere. Every magazine feels compelled to do a special "green issue," but they feel so guilty about it, they ditch their glossy paper for pulp that gives it the feel of a hemp-commune newsletter that doubles as toilet paper. Food magazines have replaced "delicious" with "sustainable" as the highest praise....

Now, the predictable response to my caterwauling is that I just don't get it. Of course, Bob Costas' Dickensian studio lighting is just so much symbolism. But, they respond, NBC is "raising consciousness" and promoting "awareness."

We've heard this tone before, perhaps starting in high school, when we were told, "If we all work together, we can make this the best yearbook ever!"

And that's why, on top of all the other reasons, Green Week - and the Green Millennium it hopes to usher in - is so annoying. It plays us all for suckers.

First of all, you have enormously rich people at fantastically wealthy corporations seeking grace on the cheap with a few symbolic gestures that come at absolutely no cost and often-considerable profit....

Liberals and environmentalists love to whine about special breaks for corporations, and they work themselves into paroxysms of paranoia about how big corporations propagandize against action on climate change. The reality is exactly the opposite: GE, DuPont, British Petroleum and countless other big corporations routinely propagandize in the other direction, largely to win governmental support they don't need.

So that's what pissed me off so much. Not that it was more liberal bullshit being stuffed down my throat. But it was the fact that it basically turned the shows I was watching into thinly veiled commercials and boy do I hate commercials. It was like NBC was tricking me into watching a 3:00 am infomercial in primetime. How fucking lame is that?

I'm a little late in posting this actually but I'm not the only one - I'm looking at you Annette.

Mehran's homecoming got pushed up and he made his return yesterday. Those in the know say he looked much better upon his return than he did on departure.

So everyone, be sure to give Mehran a warm Mama's House welcome back home. How do you give a warm Mama's House welcome? With lots of cheese.

UPDATE: Annette, ignoring my wishes for a traditional Thanksgiving menu, has said she will make pansit palabok and Jade said he would make BBQ. I suppose the bbq can serve as a main dish alternative to the turkey - and seeing that I could totally screw up the turkey, that might not be such a bad thing to have - and I suppose the pansit can be some sort of side dish or stuffing alternative.

Not a bad start to the Thanksgiving menu.

So apparently I've been charged with making Thanksgiving happen. Actually, I more or less said us cousins could handle it. Now I know what you're all thinking, it probably ranges from, "Goddamnit Wayne!" to "What the fuck were you thinking Wayne?" Now before you all get upset over this, let me remind all of you that we pretty much pulled off Christmas last year when many of the titas and uncles were away. This is going to be a lot like that Christmas but with a lot more food and hopefully less of those terrible jello-shots that were made.

First things first in planning this year's Thanksgiving, the food. Of course, we gotta have turkey and since Joni got me this turkey deep fryer last Christmas, I'll be making the turkey. Yep, that's right, deep fried turkey. Doesn't this sound like it's going to be the most awesomest Thanksgiving already?

Outside of the turkey the only things we absolutely need to have are side dishes, stuffing, dessert, and drinks. Now I want to try to keep this a more traditional Thanksgiving. That means instead of dinuguan, maybe mashed potatoes. And really nobody has to cook anything if they don't want to, but remember what Robert Rodriguez has to say about cooking, "Not knowing to cook, is like not knowing how to fuck." And it would be nice if we could pull this off, seeing that we are old enough to pull something like this off. Also, you could just buy this stuff instead of cooking it yourself.

Anyway, so what would you people like to have for this Thanksgiving and what are you willing to cook or buy precooked for the meal?

Well according to this article Roland, myself, Darryll, Mehran, Austin, EJ, and Oliver would probably do best not to. Not that the article knows the aforementioned would probably produce some fucked up offspring - I kid because I love - but on other grounds.

Sonja Hastings of Fathers-4-Equality says that “no matter how decent, hardworking, and caring you may be as a father, that in the event of separation, you will more than likely not get custody of your child, you will lose up to 80% of all of your assets, you will have to pay up to five times the cost of raising a child, and most importantly you could never see your child again.”

Combined with the divorce rate it's not surprising that there's been a bit of a movement that we males from the Fonacier clan might be wise to consider.

There is mounting evidence that as men discover the terms of marriage and divorce today, they are engaging in a marriage boycott or marriage “strike”: refusing to marry or start families, knowing they can be criminalized if their wife walks out and how attractive the divorce industry has made it easy for her to do so.... In Britain a fathers’ rights group tours university campuses warning young men not to start families. Even one attorney writes a book concluding that the only effective protection for men to avoid losing their children is not to start a family in the first place.

Now the article goes on to state that men should enter marriage with complete knowledge of how screwed over they could be if things go bad and to do so with a prenuptial agreement. She also elicits advice that others would give to young men considering marriage and here are a few responses I found illuminating. First, the uncertainty of marriage.

Don't do it fellas.

I'm married, and happily so, but the more I see, the more I feel like a guy who played a slot machine while walking through the airport in Vegas, and just happened to hit the jackpot on the first try. Marriage is exactly like gambling. Yes, you're going to see a few winners, and the fact that they exist encourages a lot of other people to gamble, but that doesn't mean gambling is a good investment strategy.

Also, bear in mind that marriage isn't just one gamble. You're not going to be the same person in ten years, and she isn't either. Particularly if you have kids, an event that can significantly change your outlook on life. What are the odds that the people you'll be in a decade will get along with each other?

Find a girlfriend, treat her well, but don't ever let her take you for granted.

And because of that uncertainty I wholeheartedly agree that one should take the precaution of a prenuptial agreement. Too jaded you say? Setting up the marriage for failure or even a sign that one shouldn't get married? Well,

Finding the right mate is someting you strive for, knowing that the is no surefire way of doing it... people change suddenly or over time. Sometimes people hide some things, and sometimes you deny them. This isn't a "New" thing. So what to do?

I boils down to this: If everyone chose their mate wisely, If everyone knew everything there is to know about their mate, we wouldn't be having this conversation, would we? Both genders can change, and some do, because they don't have to try anymore.

So? Protecting yourselves legally is a reasonable fallback. Accepting the risk after knowing what it might be, is only prudent on the part of both parties.

Still not convinced that a prenup is the way to go? Well maybe Kanye can convince you. You ain't no punk are you?

Still want to get married and willing to sign a prenup? Continue reading on then.

I'm a happily married man, because I was lucky enough to find the right woman. So marriage has been a great blessing in my life.

But I realize I'm extremely lucky, because I know my happiness is unusual. I know many men who are unhappy with their marriages, and i know many men who've been victimized by the legal system in the process of their divorce.

I have a son, and my advice to him is this: When you consider marriage, know what you are risking.... Consider that carefully, and know that you are placing your hope for happiness in the hands of another. You are rolling the dice. If you are still sure, still confident you found the right woman, and willing to approach it a lifetime, irrevocable commitment - no matter what - then by all means do so. Thinking of it this way may give you the certainty you need to make the right choice.

Okay, are you still sure you want to get married? I mean seriously, you've got to be damned sure. So you're absolutely certain as certain as 2+2=4 that you want get married but want to know if you've found the right girl? Here's some advice on that,

Good sex is not a reason to get married. How do you know when you've found the right one? Ask two questions: 1) Do I care more about her needs than my own? 2) Does she care more about my needs than my own?

Good advice for men and women: When you are courting, pat attention to how your potential mate treats people with less power than them. Do they treat waitresses, cleaning ladies, and handymen with dignity and respect or are they dismissive and callous? Because that's how you'll be treating as the power relationship changes during your life.

My personal advice to men contemplating marriage is this: ask yourself if she would stay with you if she had to support you. Based on the notion that we're all supposed to marry our best friend, whomever makes the money shouldn't be the basis for the marriage. Yes, money isn't the reason for a marriage, but most divorces sure have money at their roots.

There's tons more advice given about whether men should marry in the first place and how you know when you've found the right woman and I suggest all of you guys go read it. There's a lot of experience that can be learned from.

With Halloween upcoming I was wondering what everyone's favorite candy bar is? As for me, I really like Crunch, Twix, and the always satisfying Snickers but my all-time favorite has to be Kit Kat.

It was brought up yesterday by Melanie and Tita Evie that Papa was missed. It prompted me then to ask them to share a story about Papa. Instead, Melanie thought it better that I solicit from all of you to either post or comment a favorite story or memory of Papa. I'll be expecting those posts.

For me, it's difficult to recall with the detail needed to retell a specific story about Papa. I don't know if it's simply the passing of time that fades my memory or the more bothersome idea that memorable events with him merely didn't even occur.

Notwithstanding, I can remember an oft said phrase of Papa's, "Nothing doing." This phrase would oftentimes be said while he watched the Dodgers. He would say, "Nothing doing Dodgers," damn near every time they failed to score in an inning. He would say it in such a way that it was generally expected that a MLB team was to score every single inning and that the Dodgers let him down every time they didn't. He would do the same thing with the Lakers when they didn't score on every possession. And I remember how it would greatly annoy me to no end. I don't know if I was annoyed because as a youthful fan I took any perceived slights against my teams personally; or maybe I thought it showed he didn't quite understand the game fully; or perhaps him saying, "Nothing doing Dodgers," only highlighted how terrible they were doing; but at times it would get so annoying that I would have to leave the room and stop watching with him.

So come to think of it, Papa was a lot more annoying than I wish to remember him.

USC lost, yay! The food was good, yay! It stayed mostly dry, yay! Meka killed some bad guys in Halo 3 on Legendary, yay! DJ Tropical Goodies made a pre-debut warmup, yay!

I wouldn't bet against this blog making it onto next year's list.

A recent Carnegie Mellon study used higher mathematics to answer the question: if you want to be informed about what the entire blogospohere is talking about, but you can only read 100 blogs (out of the millions available), which blogs should you read?

The blogs I'm familiar with on the list are: Instapundit, Michelle Malkin, Boing Boing, Pajamas Media, LAist, and The Volokh Conspiracy.

No need to worry anymore. Lindsey is safe.

I know all of you have been worried about me considering the numerous fires taking place in San Diego. I have been sitting inside my non-airconditioned apartment for the past 2 days doing sudoku puzzles and watching the television. So far my roomate Tiffany and I have been lucky enough to not have to evacuate our apartment. However, the air quality out here is absolutely disgusting. I can't even see the mountains around me considering the fact that all the fires are surrounding us.

I will be coming back to Simi Valley tomorrow to sit at home because of the Ventura fire, until I go to Santa Barbara this weekend for Halloween and to visit Tiffany's sister, Natasha.

For those who want to keep up with what's going on here's a google map I found on Daily News.


View Larger Map

UPDATE: Here's a map of the San Diego fire.


View Larger Map

And here's a link for all the up-to-date information.

What time is everyone showing up tonight?

So the powers that be are meeting up tomorrow to discuss what went right and wrong this past Fonacier family reunion and to begin preparations for the 2008 version, rumored to be held on August 9.

If you're not one of the powers that be but still want to be heard, you can sound off here. So feel free to say whatever you want - that's what anonymous commenting is for, you cowards - about what you liked and disliked about this year's reunion, what you would like to see happen at next year's, or any other thoughts. Disappointed that there weren't any t-shirts? Loved the selection and want to see the same menu for next year? Happy that we changed locations last minute to stay dry? Found some of the name tags inappropriate? Not enough hot chicks we weren't related to there - always a problem? Thought the neighbor was going to run us all over and thus prevent any need for further family reunions?

Anyway, if you want to see improvements and have a more enjoyable experience next year, speak up and be heard.

As for me, the last minute change of location was disappointing because I had looked so forward to spending the day at the park. So making sure weather is not a concern next time would be nice. I supposed that can be done by either having it on certain days when you know it won't rain or by having it indoors. Regarding this year's location, it was nice that someone opened up their home to all of us, especially at the last minute, so that we could stay dry. But I think that maybe having it at a house is not conducive to getting a large group of people to know each other. It was much too easy for one part of the family to dominate a room at the exclusion of other family members. There were certainly those social butterflies that moved easily from one room to the next, meeting new family members, but on the whole that was limited. So perhaps the answer is to hold it in a place without so many walls so that people can't so easily section themselves off. As for the food, the only things I ate were chips, a hot dog, and a hamburger. And that was more than enough to satisfy just me.

All in all, the first Fonacier Family Reunion went well, very well considering it was our first and the weather did not cooperate. It went well enough that I won't be skipping the next one, especially considering that it was our first and that it can be and should be even better next year.

I asked Jayden what he wanted to be for Halloween and decided to ask him what other people should be for Halloween, his answers were:

Himself: Spiderman
Annalynne: Princess
Angelynne: Princess
Mom: Dolly (I'm pretty sure he means a doll and not Ms. Parton)
Dad: Butt (said he could wear it on his head)
Roland: Cat
Faye: Cat
Vanessa: Cat

Roland is flying into town today for one of his best friend's wedding that is happening this Saturday. Annette is picking him up this afternoon. That's the excuse I'm being given anyway as to why I have to pick up Jayden.

So if Roland owes any of you money, now is your chance to collect.... Or I suppose you could just say hi to him or something.

For all you little kiddies planning on doing some trick-or-treating at the end of the month, you best prepare your route.

So who is dressing up this year and as what?

Lindsey's last comment makes me curious. What's everyone's homepage? And if the answer isn't this webpage, why not this webpage?

As for me, I use iGoogle as my homepage. Why not this site as my homepage? My iGoogle updates more often.

4 of the 9 visits to this site today have come from San Diego by a person using a Mac. Don't we all know a certain someone from there who has midterms all week long? I guess the 1 am visit shows that she was up late, perhaps doing some late night cramming.

Good luck on those tests.

Can anyone answer my question regarding one of the photos of Mama's and Papa's 50th Anniversary? I know it's a long shot that anyone could possibly remember what was so funny at that moment - thankfully captured - so long ago, but you never know.

Heck, maybe it's better that I don't know and imagine that Papa told a witty and hilarious anecdote that upon further reflection imparted some wise lesson about life and love. You know, the kind of story that puts Papa in a very admirable and favorable light and in the ranks of George Washington, Mister Rogers, and Papa Smurf. Of course, my limited and crude imagination only leads me to believe that Papa leaned over and let out a big one.

So if you know, please be kind and leave a response. Or feel free to speculate.

TO: The guy air drumming on the treadmill in front of me at the gym

FROM: WFS

DATE: 14, October 2007

SUBJECT: Air drumming while on the treadmill at a public gym

Though you almost inspired me to get on the treadmill next to you and do some air guitar, but for fear of getting my ass kicked, you're obviously in need of some help. May I make a suggestion?

I'll start off by saying it was good times celebrating Uncle's 50th, with that said, I'll probably most remember Uncle's 50th for a couple of reasons.

First, the service was terrible. So it was dim sum and the ladies with the carts came by. As usual with dim sum, maybe more so this time because we had a section of the restaurant to ourselves consisting of six tables and all of the ladies coming at one time, it was chaotic. For the most part they did their job right by asking the table if we wanted any of the dishes they were pushing around.

After it seemed like we were settled in with the several dishes we ordered, a few more dishes started popping up onto our table. Our table was only about half seated when service started and it was the empty half of the table began to fill up with dishes. Noticing this, I asked if any one at the table had actually ordered any of those dishes being set down. Everyone said no and so we asked the ladies to remove the dishes we had not ordered.

All they did was ignorantly smile and move on. Granted, they may actually not have known any english and we may have initially asked those who had not set down those dishes to take them away, which I can understand they can't do. So we pretty much had to figure out who set what dishes down and practically hand them back. Now the thing was, we were sure those who had gave us those dishes had stamped our order sheet/tab. We counted up the dishes on our table and the stamps on our tab and figured out that there were two extra stamps. When we asked the ladies to cancel those orders, we got the same ignorant smiles.

We then explained to the guy in charge what had happened and he was very reluctant to correct the situation. I mean considering we were a small part of a party of close to 40 why would we try to get a couple of dishes for free? And what happened to the customer always being right? It was understood that the stamps were for different dishes categorized by "A, B, C, D, E" for pricing purposes so it was not so easy to see what we were being charged for that was not on the table. But I even offered that he could just remove two marks from the least expensive category. In the end, he went over with us with what was on the table and each correlating stamp on the tab and couldn't explain what one of the stamps was for and even then he seemed unwilling to make a concession. Finally, he removed that stamp from the "C" category and after all that hassle we probably ended up "saving" $3.00.

The second thing I will remember is Lindsey's friend Brian. Before he arrived, he was described as someone who perpetually looked and sounded stoned. And when he did arrive sporting a Rasta style hat, he did not disappoint. Seriously, his retelling of his weekend so far that included a trip to Red Robin sounded like the sequel to a classic, I half-expected him to tell me that Doogie stole something of his.

Not so memorable moments but still notable:

• The taking of the soy sauce.
  
• Karen's cake stained mouth.
  
• The 25-30 stamps on one table's tab.
  
• Meeting Lindsey's friend The Enabler.
  
• Lindsey sporting the librarian look.

Photo by wmliu via Flickr.