The Life of Brian

Grand Opening of Wokano Restaurant

2008-07-30T22:33:00.003+02:00

ABOVE: Fares, Charles Anthony, and Myself looking FIERCE. I love restaurant openings: endless platters of the chef's best dishes parading around for your sampling pleasure, an open flowing bar of delicious drinks, a DJ keeping the crowd hopping, fire jugglers keeping us entertained, and best of all it's, of course, free.

The new Wokano restaurant in Santa Monica had its (private) Grand Opening Party last night and we were invited. It is a beautiful location open to the sky above. The place was jam-packed with beautiful young people dressed up and ready to get down.

The food and atmosphere are amazing. We had so much fun. I'm sure this restaurant will do very well. I look forward to seeing what it looks like with tables! haha

(Another) Earthquake in LA

2008-07-29T21:31:00.003+02:00

Below you can see where the earthquake epicenter was in Chino Hills and how close that is to wear I work (Burbank) and live (Santa Monica). Well some of the excitement for my new 27th-floor office in Burbank has wore off a bit since we've just had a first earthquake since moving here. It is the second earthquake I've experienced in LA and the third in my life.

Today's was a 5.8 (moderate) deep-earth (less damage) quake. I was on a conference call to New York when all the sudden I heard a low rumble and the building started shaking. It's the same sensation you get when you drive over a really rough road or when a big truck drives by your house. A very strange sensation. They say that the quake lasted less than 20 seconds but up high in a skyscraper, I could HEAR the building creaking and swaying for almost a full minute!

Fortunately, the buildings here are designed for this sort of stuff and the elevators never even stopped working though people seem a bit more hesitant to get in them.

Within a very short time everyone was back to work as normal. Just another day in LA I guess.

Actually, it is kind of nice to have a quake like this because it releases the pressures that would otherwise build up for an even bigger quake.

I loved the texts that I got from my friends Bill (who has a birthday today) and Brook (who has a BBQ Pool party tonight):

BILL: "Cower before me! On this anniversary of my birth, I shall make the earth tremble beneath you all!"

BROOK: "Don't worry, y'all! No earth shaking will stop our BBQ! Come on by, it's pool time!"

Loving My New Office

2008-07-16T02:39:00.004+02:00

This week my office moved to a new building. I have to say I'm pretty stoked about my new office. I have a window on the 27th floor (out of 32). The view is amazing: I look south-southwest towards the Hollywood Hills. From here I can look down on (and spy on) Disney's competition: Warner Brothers and Universal Studios.

I wasn't given a promotion or anything, it was just luck or something. Someone must like me I guess.

Of course, when working in a high-rise in LA safety is paramount. Before we even moved in we were sent detailed emergency plans for fires and earthquakes. And because I have First Aid and CPR certifications, I am one of the emergency group leaders. Of course, on our second day in the office we had a fire drill requiring us to walk down all 27 flights of stairs. It makes one really appreciate the express elevators we take every day. I wonder how much sway we'll feel in an earthquake. haha I probably don't want to find out. I'll just enjoy my view until then.

See photos below:

Below you can see where the building fits in to the glamourous and exciting Burbank skyline. Burbank sits in the valley north of Los Angeles and Hollywood for those of you who aren't aware. Here you can see the little corner of the world where I happily serve my corporate masters dreaming up all sorts of wonderful Disney ideas for the next generation of kids. On closer inspection you can see that work is far from being "no play". It's hard to take work too seriously when your meetings are about princesses, fairies, pirates, and Zac Efron (oh wait, isn't he a fairy too? haha). The Demotivation posters are my favorite. They only LOOK like motivational posters but they are really funny sayings. My favorite is "MOTIVATION: If a Pretty Poster and a Cute Saying are All it takes to Motivate You. You probably have a very easy job. The kind robots will be doing soon." For more Demotivations, click here. Below you can see the far left view from my window: the Warners Brothers Studio Lot. Looking left (and northwest) of WB you can see more of the exciting dynamic Burbank skyline against the Hollywood Hills. Universal Studios theme park and the NBC-Universal Tower overlook Universal City. To give you perspective, the Hollywood sign is on the opposite side of the crest of that hill. You rarely see it from THIS side, huh? :-p Ah yes, the beautiful vista of the San Fernando Valley (otherwise known as "THE Valley" always said with disdain). Here I can check traffic on the 134 before I leave work. The 134 West leads to the 101 North which leads to the 405 South which leads to the 10 West which takes me home to Santa Monica! Thankfully I'm going against traffic half the time so it's faster than it sounds!

Meeting the 2008 Men's Water Polo Team

2008-07-13T01:10:00.002+02:00

Last Tuesday I had the opportunity to go with my friend Bill to the Los Angeles Athletic Club and meet the players for the 2008 Men's Water Polo Team going to Beijing this summer. It was really cool to meet all of them. Olympic athletes are a whole other stock of human race: they were all about my age but they were big enough and strong enough to snap me like the twig that I am. But we had something in common: about half of the team is from my alma mater: Pepperdine University in Malibu! I had no idea that our school churned out so many athletic athletes. Virtually the entire team is Californian (and they look like it): with the other half of the team being guys from Stanford University, UCLA, or USC. Go Team USA!

Everything I'm Touching Today Has Turned to $h!t

2008-07-06T08:41:00.002+02:00

Have you ever had one of those days where everything you touched turned to shit? Today has been so tragic it's almost funny.

So I went to the car wash today and started to wash my car with one of those hand wand things. Just as the water came on, I realized I had left my sunroof open. There was no way to turn off the water so I had to carefully handle the hose while opened my door, turned the key, and shut the sunroof.

So then I start washing my car and BAM! The hose splits and starts spraying water all over me! Soaking and splattered with brown dirty water, I manage to move the car over to a new bay and finally get my car washed. I then drive my car 20 feet and proceed to dry it.

I go to start my car. No go. The starter turns over but it won't actually start. The engine compartment is clean and dry. Very mysterious. Oh well, that's what roadside assistance and car warranties are for, I guess. So after the tow truck takes my car to the dealership, I go home.

Now, the icing on the cake: I'm sitting here typing about my day and my computer cord catches on fire! Wow. I think I should take my friend Colin's advice: "Turn everything off, call it a day, and go to bed!" That's probably pretty good advice. My laptop is running after its last charge of power anyway. Good bye, cruel world! LOL

Busted My Fin At Venice Pier

2008-07-06T04:33:00.004+02:00

ABOVE: Mike and I walking back from the Pier

BELOW: A closer look at the damage Last week I passed an important rite of passage in surfing: I broke a fin. My room mate, Mike, and some friends and I were surfing north of the Venice Beach Pier. There were some pretty good sized sets coming in: waist-to shoulder-high. They were pretty walled out so it was hard to catch them just right.

About an hour-and-a-half into our session, a wall came down on me pretty hard just as I was trying to get up on the wave. I went head-over-heels and while I instinctively covered my head with my arms. While still summersaulting through the water, I felt my board come down on my right ankle HARD.

Worried that I had either broken, sprained, or cut it badly, I paddled and body-boarded back to the beach. When I got back I was relieved to see that my ankle was fine although it still hurt a bit. My board was not so spared: One of my stabilizer fins was busted clean off...after hitting my ankle!

In that regard I was damn lucky: the fin must have hit me flat and broadside and simply snapped off. Usually if a fin hits you it cuts you, and cuts you deeply. That is, when it's fin vs. surfer, the fin usually wins. I was also lucky that the box that holds the fin into the board is fine. If it breaks, or the board itself breaks, the repairs can be much more expensive then just buying a new fin and snapping it in. Relieved that it could have been worse, I hobbled back up to beach to enjoy more of that Cali sun.

Thievery Corporation at the Hollywood Bowl

2008-06-27T02:40:00.006+02:00

If you've never seen a concert at the Hollywood Bowl, you have to go. The natural amphitheater has got great sound and ambiance. Plus, it's one of the only concert halls in the world where you can bring in your own food and drink and have a picnic during the performance! And...if you've never seen Thievery Corp in concert or even heard their music before you've got to do so! This genre-busting band crosses all cultures and musical tastes. It's amazing music that is almost impossible to describe. Google them! We had to get there early and grab a lot of tables and chairs on the Hollywood Bowl's picnic terrace to have enough room for our 30-person group. Bill, Colin, and I in front of the Hollywood Bowl All of us ex-Pepperdine MBA graduates looking smart

What Kind of Funeral Will You Have?

2008-06-10T09:49:00.002+02:00

Today was a difficult one. It was the memorial service for one of my first and dearest friends here in LA: John Altieri. There were many people there from all walks of life. It was comforting to see that he had touched so many people as powerfully as he had mine. You can read in the blog post a few weeks ago about one of the stories that illustrates why he was so important to me. Fittingly, his service was as full of laughs of joy and delight as it was about tears of sorrow and loss.

It made me wonder... what kind of funeral are we making for ourselves? Who will be there? What will it be like? I hope that when my time comes to leave this existence that I will have lived a life that I can have a going-away party like John's: a packed house, events on both coasts, hundreds of friends and family of industry colleagues and community champions there to celebrate my life and the what it brought to others. I'd also make damned sure you all throw a party and wear shorts and flip flops! haha

It reminds me of a great saying:

"When you were born, you cried, and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice."

That was certainly how John was. Oh that I can follow his example. Rest in peace, my friend! You will always be loved and missed!

Fridays on the 405: The Getty Center

2008-05-31T09:34:00.001+02:00

One of LA's must-do summer activities is to go to the Getty Center. The Getty is a beautiful museum that sits atop the hills north of Los Angeles. It has amazing art, gardens, and a view stretching from downtown and Hollywood to Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and the Ocean.

On certain Friday nights the museum is open late and they have a DJ playing and drinks are served to a very eclectic crowd. It's a great place to hang out and enjoy the culture and life of LA.

"Out There" Movie Premiere

2008-05-23T02:47:00.004+02:00

Last night my room mate Mike and our friends went to Venice's AC Lounge for the LA premiere of "Out There". It's a surf movie that shows some of the best surfers surfing on some of the world's best waves and talking about how we need to protect those surf spots from water pollution, over-development, and other environmental threats. They had raffles to raise funds the West LA/Malibu Surfrider chapter I belong to. Some of our friends walked away with some cool prizes.

It was a great movie and a great party. I urge you to check it out! Check out the photos and trailers below. ABOVE: Brian B (surfer bud, not me), Sharon (room mate's gf), Mike (surfer bud and room mate), Joe (surfer bud and President of the Malibu Surfing Association), and Brian B(me)

BELOW: Joe, Mike, and I

2008-05-22T02:09:00.003+02:00

In last Wednesday's Sunset Series we won our first trophy of the new season. Our skipper describes below:

TO THE CREW OF THE GOOD SHIP VELOCE:

Congratulations to everyone for our second place trophy last week -- a nice reward for some hard work and perseverance.

It was the first light wind race [which sounds easier but actually can be more challenging since subtle smooth techniques and sound tactics can make a big difference] of the year. We got a great start and, for once, were on the correct side of the course for the big wind shift. We were the first boat to the weather mark [the buoy we round before heading back to the finish line] and only an ultra-light Viper [weighs 2000 lbs vs our 8000 lbs] was able to catch us downwind. We beat all the [other] Schocks in the race and, most satisfying, we beat all the Mumm 30s [see prior posts]. Well done!

Cal Cup 2008

2008-05-18T02:10:00.004+02:00

Today we went out on the Cal Yacht Club yacht and watched 70' sailboats wrestle for the Cal Cup. It was really cool to WATCH a race as one who is usually participating. It's a totally different experience because often on the boat you are so focused on your tasks and working with your crew that it's hard to take in the whole race. Plus, it was cool to see that these seasoned racers, many of them professionals, would make the same mistakes that our amateur crew makes on occasion, too. It reinforced that we are actually a pretty good team! Below you can see video of some of the boats rounding the weather mark (to make the sprint for the finish line back at the marina) and a couple of photos of us on the Cal Yacht Club yacht!

Rest In Peace, John Altieri

2008-05-13T11:35:00.005+02:00

Wow.

Don't you hate it when you're driving down the freeway after work on a typical boring idle Monday afternoon and you get a phone call telling you one of your best friends has died?

There's no better way to get a sudden, cold, hard slap from reality.

We are all so precariously mortal.

It's terrifying how it can all change so quickly.

And it never seems to get easier- every time a person you love dies, a piece of you dies, too.

But it makes you stop and want to reach out to all your friends and family and remind them how much you love them and how important they are in your life...

I love you all.

My dear friend John Altieri has passed on. He was one of my first and my best friends in LA. This photo below was taken of us at a Cinco di Mayo Party in San Diego in 2006. It's my favorite photo of us. But it's now a bit creepy realizing it was taken two years to the day before he would die...

Life is so short...so delicate...so temporary.

He was strong, healthy, and young. He was an enthusiastic, creative, optimist that was the epitome of the definition "full of life." He always was so upbeat whenever he would call my name on the phone. He never spoke without a smile and was always quick to laugh. How can a little bacterium take someone down so quickly and thoroughly? His career was just taking off as a lead in Jersey Boys touring in Las Vegas. Las Vegas. I was there just a few weeks ago...remember? I messaged him while we were there. Here was my last conversation with John:

April 12:

BRIAN: "Are you alive?"

April 13:

JOHN: "Hey Brian. Still alive. Been crazy busy with the move and subletting my place in LA. You have to come to Vegas, baby! How are you?"

BRIAN: "I will be there April 18-20!"

JOHN: "Cool!"

April 19, in response to my call saying I'm in Vegas:

JOHN: "In the hospital with really bad pneumonia. Have fun. We'll play next time. John"

BRIAN: ":-( Get well soon. Is there anything I can do for you? Which hospital are you at?"

I never got an answer. I never pushed to get one. I never got to say goodbye or see him one last time.

My favorite story about John was actually the week I met him. I was visiting LA a few months before I was to move down here to start school at Pepperdine. So this would have been 3, almost 4, years ago. I met him at a club in LA and we instantly connected. He told me all about the city in his typical enthusiastic manner and we exchanged numbers.

The next day was one of the worst days of my life. To make an extremely long story as short as possible, my weekend bag was stolen while I was at the gym. My clothes, my wallet, my cell phone, and my rental car keys were all gone. The only possessions I had were a jacket, flip-flops, a towel, and my swim trunks. I was completely stranded for hours into the night and was desperately trying to hold on to the last remnants of my sanity.

I thank God John was there. Although I had only known him for less than 24 hours, he took me into his house, gave me clothes, food, and water. The next morning he got up early and took me to the airport and made sure that the TSA would allow me to fly without any identification or tickets...only a police report in hand. If it weren't for John, I don't even know how I would have survived that day. And I probably would have never have come back to LA again if it wasn't for him. He was, and is, more than ever now, my guardian angel.

Rest in peace, John. You are loved and greatly missed.

Mother's Day in Malibu

2008-05-13T11:15:00.003+02:00

You can barely tell where the sky meets the sea in Malibu. This is the view from my bud David's apartment at my alma mater: Pepperdine University

Today was a crazy fun day that could have been worse... much worse. I spent most of the day... ...SURFING.... I woke up early and drove up the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu and picked up my grad school buddy David S. We grabbed some breakfast and went surfing up at County Line. The surf was knee to chest high and fair shaped. We rode a few good waves and a few waves rode us! After going through "the washing machine" once my nose started bleeding. Luckily it stopped quick enough and I was able to catch another wave or two before heading in to warm up (the water is still really cold up there). On his last run in, however, David's fins sliced his hand up pretty good. Luckily, I had a first aid kit in the car. Unluckily, in our haste to grab the car keys from the secret hiding spot, they slid down into a crevice. We ran over to a nearby restaurant to get his hand fixed up and then spent an hour or so trying to get out the car keys out so we could change back into our clothes and get back home. There were lots of good people around us who tried to help. It's good to know there are still good people out there. Afterwards we went back down to Malibu and had some health shakes at the shopping center, Malibu Colony. We didn't see any celebrities this time, which was odd, but we did hear a funny story from David's roommate about how last night some girl that looked like Paris Hilton puked on him, forcing him to strip down to his underwear in the girl's bathroom at the Roosevelt club! LOL!

...HOUSE HUNTING... While in Malibu I saw my buddy Chuukey who is in real estate. He was hosting an open house on Malibu Road just behind the Colony. It was a 3 bedroom, 2 bath apartment that is on the beach in Malibu. Reduced $2000 to only $7000 per month! :-) Wow. Hard to believe this is Malibu during an economic downturn! I'm never going to have enough money to live here!

....PARTYING.... Went to my buddy Rob's place in the Hollywood Hills to celebrate his birthday and his new house. See above.

....SEEING IRONMAN.... Wow, great movie. ....AND, OF COURSE, CALLING MOM! Love ya!

Wednesday Sailing: May 7th

2008-05-13T10:55:00.003+02:00

I couldn't describe the sailing any better than our skipper (with of of course my little comments and explanation inserted): TO THE CREW OF THE GOOD SHIP VELOCE: Last week was almost an exact replica of the week before. We got a decent start and sailed well with a heavy No. 1 up (2nd smallest sail designed for carrying us upwind in moderate winds) expecting the wind to die, which it never did. The spinnaker set, takedown and jibes (sailing maneuvers)were all great and we even caught some waves down wind. But, alas, it was not enough. We again finished 6th (one spot short of getting a trophy) behind a bunch of Mumm 30's (the smaller faster boats added to our class which we suspect to have an unfair handicap more and more each passing week). But don't get discouraged. Our crew work continues to be good and getting even better. We also beat the only other Schock 35 in the race (Power Play) by a wide margin. Hope yet springs eternal.

May 7th Results- Class B:

Placement___Boat Name_____Boat Type_____Corrected Time

1. Grace O'Malley J/105 18:54:32

2. Plankton Viper 830 18:55:49

3. Frequent Flyer Mumm 30 18:56:42

4. Clockwork Mumm 30 18:57:10

5. Babe Mumm 30 18:57:12

6. Veloce Schock 35 18:57:52

7. Power PlaySchock 35 18:58:51

8. By Design Ben 36.7 19:04:03

9. ElementSheild Viper 830 19:05:02

10. Invisible J/105 20:43:53

11. Lugano Ben 40.7 Did Not Finish

Wednesday Sailing: April 30th

2008-05-13T10:35:00.002+02:00

We used to be one of the better performing boats of the Wednesday night sailing races. Then they decided to change up the rating and classes of different boats. Now we're racing against smaller, faster Mumm 30s. Normally that would be fine except we believe their rating (or handicap) is a bit too much in their favor. My skipper expresses his discontent below:

TO THE CREW OF THE GOOD SHIP VELOCE: Last week was a little more normal conditions (compared to last week in which half the fleet limped home early) with winds between 10 and 12. We got a decent start and sailed well. Unfortunately, our decision to bang the south corner of the course didn't help (kudos for trying to not always be a sheep and follow the herd) and our good crew work was not enough to make up the difference. We finished a disappointing 6th out of 11 boats.

Of the first five finishing ahead of us, 4 of them were Mumm 30s, with finishes of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th. There were only 4 Mumm 30s in the race and three of them are new this year. If those things don't get a rating change soon, this could be a long year.

April 30th Results- Class B: Placement___Boat Name_____Boat Type____Corrected Time

1. Babe Mumm 30 19:09:26

2. Cuvee Caliente Mumm 30 19:10:34

3. Frequent Flyer Mumm 30 19:10:39

4. Grace O'Malley J/105 19:11:10

5. Clockwork Mumm 30 19:12:40

6. Veloce Schock 35 19:13:19

7. Persistence J/109 19:13:40

8. ElementSheild Viper 830 19:17:38

11. Plankton Viper 830 Registered but Did Not Compete

11. By Design Ben 36.7 Did Not Finish

11. Twelve Bar Blues J/105 Did Not Finish

Laguna Beach: Thousand Steps

2008-04-27T08:23:00.000+02:00

This weekend, I went down with a few carloads of friends to Laguna Beach. Sometimes it feels a little funny to leave Santa Monica (where the beach is five minutes from my house) and drive an hour south to go to the beach. But each beach is so beautiful in a different way, and it is nice to experience them all!

So, as I was saying, this time we went down to Laguna Beach's Thousand Steps. It's called such because of the long steep staircases it takes to get from the houses on the Pacific Coast Highway. It's a hell of a workout but at the bottom of the stairs is paradise: sandy beach coves with bright blue water and crashing waves, surrounded by cliffs and plants.

Marc V and I tossed the frisbee back and forth while Carlos, Eric, Ben, and others laid out in the sun and played in the waves. It was a great day.

Fock the Earth Day: April 23rd

2008-04-23T17:47:00.000+02:00

F*ck the Earth Day - Watch more free videos

Wednesday Sunset Series; April 23rd

2008-04-23T09:58:00.002+02:00

This Wednesday evening, the weather was crazy! Nearly half the boats (including ours) did not finish. We saw the jib sheet (the sail that helps you climb the wind) of a boat behind us rip OFF the boat which is something you almost never see! Then we ran into problems (as my skipper describes below) and later we heard that a third boat lost its mast and a fourth boat lost its keel (the fin underneath the hull that keeps the boat upright). That boat capsized and nearly sunk! Fortunately, no one was hurt (or worse)! TO THE CREW OF THE GOOD SHIP VELOCE: We got a good start in about 11 knots of true wind (very fast for the time of day). We were working to weather (towards the wind out to sea with our heavy number one up (jib sheet designed for heavy winds) and expecting the wind to continue to die, as it does almost every Wednesday evening. Instead, it built to over 20 knots (maximum wind speed for our boats is 30 knots)! We were flogging the main and grossly overpowered. But, amazingly, we still up in the front of the pack. Everybody else had too big of a headsail too ( in retrospect we all should have been flying a blade sail, our smallest jib sheet designed for the fastest winds, a sail we rarely use on Wednesday nights).

And then the jib halyard broke ( the line that holds our heavy #1 jib sheet to the top of the mast!). We might have tried switching to a different halyard, but by the time we would have gotten the sail down, the halyard switched, the sail back up and the boat back to speed, we would have dropped from one of the front runners to last.

It's probably just as well. I was a little nervous about launching a chute (another name for the spinnaker which we would have used to cup the wind on the downwind portion back to port, which could have ripped in that much wind) in that much wind. It just isn't worth it to take those kind of risks for a Wednesday night race.

April 23rd Results- Class B:

Placement___Boat Name ____Boat Type____Corrected Time

1. Grace O'Malley J/105 18:47:45

2. Frequent Flyer Mumm 30 18:51:40

3. Babe Mumm 30 18:51:50

4. Twelve Bar Blues J/105 18:51:55

5. Clockwork Mumm 30 18:54:23

6. Power Play Schock 35 18:54:58

7. Elementsheild Viper 830 19:09:22

11. Plankton Viper 830 Did Not Finish

11. Twister Schock 35 Did Not Finish

11. Veloce Schock 35 Did Not Finish

11. Black Magic Viper 830 Did Not Finish

Viva Las Vegas!!!

2008-04-20T06:29:00.004+02:00

I love visiting Vegas... it's like Disneyland for adults. My friends and I went there this last weekend to celebrate my friend Ed's birthday. I also got to see my best friends from Utah: Bethanie and John who came down from Salt Lake just to join up with us. Then I ran into (quite literally) an old San Fran friend Nick at Club Crave's VIP lounge. It was so cool to catch up with all of you!

In tow, we also took Colin's brother AJ and our new British ex-pat friend Ben who were both Vegas virgins. It was fun seeing the over-the-top entertainment, lights, and craziness that is Las Vegas through their eyes. Ben said that he had always heard that Las Vegas was a fun city but nothing could have prepared him for what he saw: mega-resorts and hotels that cost billions of dollars to build designed to entertain you. He and I tried the slots once and lost our meager wagers in less than a minute. "That's it!?" Ben exclaimed. So we stuck to the shows (like Cirque du Soleil's "O" which is fantastic) the rest of the evening. Since Ed has his birthday luck with him, he did a bit better playing Black Jack.

I'd tell you more but you know what they say: What happens in Vegas, STAYS in Vegas! Here are a few pics. The rest will be on in a MySpace album. The Excalibur Hotel and Casino sets the mood: Vegas really is Disneyland for adults! This is where we stayed: at the New York New York Hotel & Casino. Our room was on the 35th floor, in that corner at the very top where the spotlight is shining. Taking the high-speed elevator up there would make our ears pop every time. Our hotel had a great view of the Las Vegas strip. In the foreground you can see the construction for the new City Center, a $7.4 Billion development of hotel rooms and condos. Below you can see the whole crowd together at the Bellagio Hotel's Botanical Gardens. L-R: Bethanie, John, Me, Ben, Colin, & AJ Here I am, sad to go home.

San Francisco: One Day Biz Trip

2008-04-16T17:48:00.000+02:00

Today I had to go on a last-minute quick business trip to San Francisco. It's a fun fact of the modern world that we have the ability to have lunch in a completely different city from breakfast and dinner. If only it didn't leave such a large carbon footprint i'd do day trips like this more often. The trip went really well and it was nice to get away in the middle of the workweek but it was also very exhausting! My co-worker Benjamin took me to this amazing authentic Italian sandwich shop that made all the pains well worth it. Here's the view from our San Francisco office's windows:

Wednesday Night Sailing Begins!

2008-04-16T08:45:00.003+02:00

Ah yes! It's finally summer because now the days are long enough that we can have quick sailing race out into the bay at 5PM and get back into the marina for food and partying at the Marina just before the sun sets. It's an annual series of regattas lasting from April until September. As many as 50 boats are out there racing every Wednesday but we are only directly competing with 10 or so that are in our same class. Classes are determined by the size and design of your boat. The photo above is of Power Play, a Schock 35, a thirty-five foot boat nearly identical to the one I race: Velcoce. Veloce means "fast" in Italian.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it to this first Wednesday night race on April 16th due to my unexpected business trip up to San Francisco but here is the story as told by my skipper (with bits of layman interpretation inserted by me):

TO THE CREW OF THE GOOD SHIP VELOCE: The first Wednesday night race of the year is now behind us. It was light wind, flat seas, and a lot of boats. Our terrible start was offset by some favorable wind shifts, so we were the first non-ultra-light to the weather mark (the buoy at the halfway point we turn around to head back to the marina), and just a few boat lengths behind. But in light air, there was no way to keep up with the Mumms and the Vipers downwind(very fast boats that, for some odd reason, were put in our same class this year). The ultra-lights finished way ahead of us. The good news was that everybody else finished way behind us. Given the advantage to the ultra-lights in light air, and ignoring our poor start, we sailed an excellent race, with excellent crew work upwind and down. Our rounding at the breakwater ( the rock wall that protects the marina from the open ocean)was a little bumpy (literally "bumpy" -- John bounced the boat over submerged ), but everything else was pretty smooth. Good job!

April 16 Results for Class B:

Placement - Boat Name - Boat Type - Corrected Time

1. Clockwork Mumm 30 19:23:04

2. Black Magic Viper 830 19:25:02

3. Frequent Flyer Mumm 30 19:25:19

4. Babe Mumm 30 19:28:31

5. Veloce Schock 35 19:31:55

6. Plankton Viper 830 19:35:38

7. Lugano Ben 40.7 19:36:18

8. Grace O'Malley J/105 19:43:51

9. Power Play Schock 35 19:44:48

10. Twister Schock 35 19:44:49

11. VooDoo Doll Schock 35 19:48:05

12. By Design Ben 36.7 19:56:04

14. Twelve Bar Blues J/105 Did Not Finish

14. ElementSheild Viper 830 Did Not Finish

Lessons from a Beach Clean Up at Santa Monica Pier

2008-04-12T03:04:00.003+02:00

Last Sunday was our monthly beach clean-up for the Surfrider Foundation. This month we did my favorite spot: the beach just below my street just south of the Santa Monica Pier. I come here often to surf so it means a lot to get it cleaned up. We had a bunch of groups helping us today. About 50 people showed up from Aveda Salons, an elementary school, and a couple of girl scout troops. A couple celebrities showed up too but I promised to be discreet about who they were. :-p
Fortunately, the beach must have been fairly clean because we didn't have nearly as much garbage as we have in months past. We usually find a lot of the same stuff. Here's some information about it so you can help (even if you don't even see the beach very often):
- a lot of food packaging (especially straws and other little things that people don't bother to throw away, not realizing these little swallowable things are the worst threat to birds and fish) Please throw every little thing into the garbage can!
- tons of cigarette butts (most of which were discarded onto streets and sidewalks inland and then are washed through storm drains out into the ocean and then onto the beach) Please remember the streets are not your ashtray!
- dead birds with six-pack rings around their necks Haven't you learned to cut those before throwing them away yet???
- globs of oily tar Don't dump oils of any type into the water system, it just collects into ugly black globs that wildlife tries to eat and people step in on the beach!.
- plastic bags Keep re-useable bags in your trunk for when you shop. Recycle the plastic ones at the bins at your local grocer.

- condoms and drug paraphenalia Clean up your habits or at least clean up after them!

VOLUNTEERS AND BEACH-GOERS GATHER AROUND THE TENT FOR INFORMATION ABOUT SURFRIDER AND THE BEACH CLEAN-UP VOLUNTEERS HEAD OUT TO COLLECT TRASH SOME OF THE VOLUNTEERS GATHER TO SHOW OFF HOW MUCH CLEANER THE BEACH IS NOW

Eatin' Crawfish!

2008-04-12T02:43:00.005+02:00

This last weekend we had an authentically Cajun experience. Our friend John invited Carlos, Eric, and I over to his house for a crawfish-eating party.

STEP ONE: ORDER FRESHLY CAUGHT LIVE CRAWFISH TO BE FLOWN FROM NEW ORLEANS TO LA OVERNIGHT. THROW OUT THE ONES THAT ARE DEAD ON ARRIVAL.

STEP TWO: THROW THEM INTO A SPECIAL BOILER WITH POTATOES, CORN, AND CAJUN SPICES AS JOHN HERE IS DEMONSTRATING

STEP THREE: DUMP OUT ONTO A TABLE COVERED WITH NEWSPAPERS

STEP FOUR: PULL THE TAIL OFF THE TORSO (WEAR A BIB TO AVOID SQUIRTING FLUIDS) AND PULL MEAT OUT OF TAIL

STEP FIVE: EAT WITH OR WITHOUT THE BROWN-YELLOW "MUSTARD" IN THE GUTS!

Easter Weekend: Perfect Weather

2008-03-30T22:19:00.004+02:00

ABOVE: This was us eating at Saddle Ranch on Sunset Blvd. Actually this is just one of two tables since our group was so big. The portions and prices and quality of the food are all fantastic. I highly recommend coming here to eat if you haven't already.

BELOW: This is us on a bridge on our hike up to a pond in the Malibu Hills. A lot of movies have been shot on this trail as well as TV shows like M*A*S*H. After taking this photos, we saw a whole family of turtles swimming in the river below us. It was so funny to see some of my so-LA friends "roughing it" on the somewhat paved trail. haha You can take the people out of the city but you can't take the city out of the people! More pics are on MySpace albums. The weather last weekend- Easter weekend- was the first perfect weekend of weather in LA this year. It was hot, sunny, and just perfect. I spent Sunday morning surfing at the beach just down the street from my house with my buddy Joe. The water is still cold so we had to wear our wet suits but some days it's nice just to get wet.

After surfing, we grabbed a bagel and some tea on Santa Monica's Main Street and watched all the people out jogging, roller blading, skateboarding, and walking their dogs. After that we went to Sunset Boulevard and met up with more friends for some delicious food at Saddle Ranch. Then we piled into a couple cars and went for a hike in the Malibu Hills up to a pond where we climbed rocks and played in the water. It was a fantastic day of being with friends. Love you all!

Want to See What I Do at Work?

2008-03-25T18:12:00.003+01:00

The best way to explain what I do at work is to see it.

I develop the creative strategy for other Fortune 500 companies to run high-impact partnerships and sponsorships with and around Disney-related content online.

So for example, if you go here and click on the Lego Bionicle button under "Play Games Now" on the right or scroll down to the Lego Bionicle Ad on the lower-left (both of which I conceptualized and got approvals for since they're not normal placements), it will take you here.

This is what I dreamed up for Lego. Of course, it takes a lot more than little old me to make this stuff a reality. After I develop the creative strategy (the core idea linking Disney with our partner companies), I have to get approvals from Brand, Legal, Site, and any other Disney business unit I'm partnering with. Once it's approved, the Account Executives sell it, Producers program the code, Artists make it beautiful, and Account Managers make sure that everything works together nicely and on time.

The Lego example is more of a promotional campaign so it's just closely linked to Disney. Most of the time I work on things that are more like sponsorships and partnerships with Disney such as Toys R Us and Disney Fairies or Hewlett-Packard and Disney Magic Artist.

Anyway, it's just really cool to see a major company you greatly respect buy your idea and make it a reality. So I wanted to share so you had a better idea of what I do every day: mostly I design and play games online! haha Go ahead and try playing them. They're fun!

What a Stranger Told Me About My Car

2008-03-25T17:53:00.006+01:00

At least a couple times a month, guys stop me and compliment me on my car. The real enthusiasts recognize that it's a 20th Anniversary edition on sight. It's very funny to see how excited they get over how clean it is, the Recaro racing seats, aluminum pedals, 6-speed transmission, turbo engine, special edition wheels, and dual-colored seatbelts, etc.

Last night the guy who stopped me in the grocery store parking lot was named Nate. Nate was so excited he actually came up and knocked on my window in order to talk to me. He asked me some questions about my car and then told me a couple things I didn't know: only 4000 of these things were made, less than a 1000 of which were the retina-searing yellow like mine. My car has a plate on the instrument panel declaring that it is #3926 so it was one of the last ones made and could possibly be the last yellow one that rolled off the assembly line. I thought that was pretty cool.

He encouraged me to meet up with him and other GTI enthusiasts at the Costco in Venice Beach on Thursday nights. He also encouraged me to buy a LoJack system since its such a rare and desired car. Judging by how many times I get stopped by people creaming their pants over my car- it's probably not a bad idea!

The End of Personal Responsibility in America?

2008-03-14T22:59:00.002+01:00

I found this great article on CNN. I am going to make a mid-year resolution to start accepting more personal responsibility for my actions. Remember that the three greatest, most courageous, and most admirable things you can say are: (1) I'm sorry (2) I was wrong and (3) I love you.

-Brian

What do these stories all have in common?

A woman who says she lost more $1 million gambling in Atlantic City sues some casinos for $20 million, claiming they should've stopped her compulsive gambling.

People who bought houses they couldn't afford with loans they didn't understand want their lenders to change the terms.

Congress authorizes a war and then tries everything it can think of to get out of it.

Our country gets addicted to oil and then blames OPEC when it doesn't like the price.

These stories prove how personal responsibility has all but vanished in America, and our government is leading the way.

READ THE REST OF THIS GREAT ARTICLE HERE: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/14/beckfloridamichigan/index.html

One More Reason to Love iPhone: Replacing It

2008-03-13T06:57:00.003+01:00

So how long would it take you to have your 'lifeline' back in place whenever you need to replace your phone? A few hours? A day? I was worried when I needed to take my iPhone in to be replaced (a couple small but annoying glitches, nothing major). I figured I would have to go in, explain the problem, argue with them a bit, get a new phone, charge the battery for a couple of hours, activate it, and then wait a couple more hours until it started receiving my calls. Nope. Guess how long it took?

13 minutes!

That's it!

I walked in to the Apple Store, explained the problem, the Apple genius took five seconds to confirm the problem, took a new charged-up model out of box, activated it at her computer, and handed it over. The entire process took less than 13 minutes and I was back taking phone calls and receiving texts on my new phone without missing a beat.

Now if only I could speak as wonderfully about AT&T as I could about iPhone. I feel like I've made a contract with the devil to have the world's best phone. haha

Not Dead Yet

2008-03-13T06:05:00.003+01:00

The last time I had the flu was Easter 1988. I remember because I was 8 years old and at that age, missing out on Easter egg hunts because of a fever of 104 can be quite traumatic. :-) Anyway, the flu bug this year definitely made up for its double-decade-long absence from my life by hitting me hard. As most of you probably know by now, I've been off-the-radar for the last week and half sleeping 20+ hours a day and spending the other four hours in a drug-induced semi-delusional state.

It got kind of scary there for awhile. Earlier this week I even went into Urgent Care where they ran all sorts of tests and chest x-rays to make sure it wasn't something more serious like pneumonia.

Anyway, I'm f i n a l l y starting to feel normal and may actually have enough strength to have my first full day back at the office tomorrow. Yay. It feels so good to rejoin the human race and enjoy some normalcy. Times like that really make you remember not to take good health for granted.

"San Francisco = SF = Super Fierce"...

2008-02-26T10:15:00.011+01:00

...at least that's how my bud Carlos describes the city. I have to agree. San Francisco has everything LA does not: class, culture, history, architecture, and mass transit.

Carlos and I hung out in SF for this last weekend and did some shopping, went clubbing, and caught the Chinese New Year Parade. This is the second year in a row that I've just happened to be in town for the Chinese New Years parade (which is several hours long and attracts 500,000 people due to the huge Asian-American population here). I never plan to be in town for the holiday. I just am. But it's always fun.

THIS IS THE VIEW LOOKING LEFT OF OUR 26th FLOOR ROOM AT THE GRAND HYATT HOTEL. SAN FRANCISCO BAY IS JUST BEYOND THE BUILDINGS. I FIGURE YOU'VE ALL SEEN PHOTOS OF THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE, THE TRANSAMERICA TOWER, AND ALCATRAZ SO I FIGURED I WOULD GIVE YOU VIEWS OF SF YOU HAVEN'T ALL SEEN BEFORE. I LOVE ALL THE VARIOUS TYPES OF ARCHITECTURE THAT CAN BE SEEN IN SAN FRANCISCO. WE WERE LUCKY IN THAT SF HAD A BIT OF RARE WINTER SUNSHINE. SF IS DEFINATELY A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CLIMATE FROM SoCAL. LOOKING RIGHT, YOU CAN SEE TRUCKS PREPARING FOR THE CHINESE NEW YEARS PARADE IN UNION SQUARE. THE TERRACE ON TOP OF THE MACY'S (RIGHT OF THE DAVID BECKHAM ARMANI AD) IS THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY RESTAURANT. THE LAST TIME I WAS IN SAN FRANCISCO, MY FRIENDS RICH AND BETH AND I WERE EATING OUT THERE ON THAT 7th FLOOR TERRACE WHEN THERE WAS AN EARTHQUAKE. A BIT SCARY... BUT LUCKILY WE HAD LOTS OF CHEESECAKE TO CALM OUR NERVES! :-) UNION SQUARE AT NIGHT UNION SQUARE AT NIGHT WHEN IT RAINED ON OUR PARADE, CARLOS AND I JUST RETREATED TO THE ROOM WHICH HAD A DECENT VIEW THE CHINESE NEW YEAR DRAGON

People in Beverly Hills Don't Eat

2008-02-22T02:27:00.002+01:00

A couple of buddies and I were doing some shopping in lower Beverly Hills and talking about recent celebrity-sightings earlier this week. As we walked down the street, we passed this garbage can and it made us (and a group of girls next to us commenting on the same thing) laugh: the only waste in it were containers for lattes, coffees, and bottled water. I guess in order to keep that Hollywood figure I guess it requires a purely liquid diet!

Anti-Valentine's Day Parties

2008-02-18T00:01:00.003+01:00

The V-Day Party at Hollywood's Circus club:

I'm trying to remember if I have ever had a Valentine for Valentine's Day. For me and many others, it's just Singles Awareness Day: the couples who take each other for granted MIGHT remember to buy each other a card and flowers and go out to dinner. Us singles? It's just one more in a series of holidays (New Year's and Christmas) that remind you that you don't have a special someone to share it with. Oh well. Thank goodness I've got good friends that enjoy celebrating the freedom and fun that come with single life. Loving all the Anti-Valentine's Day parties and dinners with friends!

LAN Pirate Parties: The New Tupperware

2008-02-17T23:38:00.007+01:00

Setting up the Local Access Network (LAN) before the Pirate Party The Pirates of Venice Beach looking for buried treasure on each others' computers Below: Sharon the Pirate with her mustache of light

Our parents used to attend Tupperware parties to exchange plastic kitchen containers. Our generation seems to be all about LAN parties where we set up Local Access Network between computers and external hard drives and exchange music, movies, and even computer applications. It's fast, easy (especially if you have Apple computers, which by the way, you can see from the photos we all have) and virtually untraceable. Goodbye intellectual property rights. Hello all my latest songs, tv shows, and movies. Woo Hoo!

Actually for the record, I still purchase the songs for all my favorite music bands. Gotta support the art!

Janet Jackson at Arena

2008-02-17T20:28:00.003+01:00

Janet's the brown-black blob to the left of the white blob in the middle of the photo. I think. Maybe that's just my friend Megan. Hard to say. haha If I wrote a blog every time I saw a celebrity or wanna-be in LA, my blogspace would start looking a lot like TMZ.com or D-Listed. But since I have so many friends that are Janet fans (ahem, Bethanie), I figured I would send out a note bragging that she came to my favorite Thursday night Hollywood hotspot last week: the VIP Lounge of Arena. She's very nice, very short, and very beautiful. There was so much chaos when she arrived that I was unable to get a decent shot of her. Oh well.

OBAMA vs. CLINTON: The Issues

2008-02-07T23:29:00.001+01:00

It seems like a lot of people are making very uninformed decisions on who they wish to support (like my dear friend Joe who thought that Obama was anti-Israel when in fact he SPONSORED the Israel's Right to Self Defense bill and continues to support funding and R&D for a joint missle-defense program between the US and Israel).

To be fair, thorough, and yet impartial, I created this table of all of the major issues with the candidates. The information is courtesy of CNN.

I have to admit that there are some things about Hillary I like, such as the fact that she plans to have the oil companies help pay for research into clean, sustainable energy (I just wish she was spending $150 billion like Obama instead of only $50 billion to do this).

But in the long run, I still think that the Democratic Party would be foolish not to endorse Obama due to one simple, clear fact: the people that would vote for Hillary would also vote for Obama over a Republican, however many of the moderates and undeclared people that would vote for Obama would NOT vote for Hillary. Therefore, Obama is a golden opportunity for the Democratic Party to increase its influence and usher in a new era.

CLICK TO ENLARGE:

OBAMA vs. CLINTON: Please comment!

2008-02-06T21:19:00.000+01:00

Without a doubt, the theme for the next US presidential election is "Change". Every candidate, even the Republicans are clamoring for change from the current administration.

No one I know disagrees that we need change. We need to change our health care and education systems. We need to change our energy consumption habits. We need to change our foreign policies, the "war on terror", and the wars in the Middle East. There's a lot to change. The only question is who we should elect to lead us in that change.One only needs to look at the candidates themselves to see that change is in the air: who would have thought 10 years ago that today there would be a hotly contested Presidential election between a woman, an African-American, and a Mormon?

I am non-partisan, but in my opinion, the prospect of finding real change among the Republican candidates is a joke. So that leads us to decide between the two leading Democrats: Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama.

The race between these two candidates is close and hot: Clinton won a lot of support in big states like California and New York but not by enough: when it comes down to the number of delegates, Clinton and Obama are nearly head-to-head. Further, Obama has a lot of support from bell-weather states and swing-states like Missouri that can make or break a close election bid such as this.

I've never outwardly supported a presidential candidate. I've never donated to a political campaign. Until now. Obama has changed me. That's real change. I want to make it very clear to my friends and family the six reasons why I have decided to support Obama:

1- Obama has accepted no money from lobbyists. So he is politically free to do exactly what he promises. His honor, conscience, and the sentiment of the American people will be his guide, not the under-the-table dealings with special interest groups. That's real change.

2- Despite this, he has been able to collect more campaign donations than Hillary Clinton. And he's the new guy! Where are Clinton's old friends? Like the Kennedy's, they're supporting Obama. That's real change.

4- Obama is a man of principle. I know I just eluded this, but keep in mind that Obama was the only one wise enough and bold enough to protest the war in Iraq from the beginning. He was the only one. That's real change.

3- Hillary claims that it took a Clinton to clean up after Bush Sr. and it will take a Clinton to clean up after Bush Jr. I don't believe this. Clinton obviously didn't clean up Washington enough to avoid having another Bush in office. We need real change. It's time to have someone in the White House whose last name is not Clinton or Bush. That's real change.

4- Hillary claims that she has more experience. I think this discounts too much Obama's amazing record of service to our country. Further more, I believe that if Washington is ever going to change, it's going to be by a younger person who hasn't been in DC so long as to have too many ulterior motives. That's Barack Obama. That's real change.

5- People who don't trust Obama claim that he's too preachy or too much of an orator. What's wrong with having someone that knows how to speak eloquently and inspire people? When you take a moment and study his plans to increase the use of alternative and renewable energy, improve our schools and healthcare, and adjust our taxes, you can see that there is substance behind those words. Meawhile, take cold, calculating Hillary: she's already declared she's "In it to win". She'll say anything it takes to get your vote but when it comes to doing she'll do whatever the lobbyists and her friends in Washington want. When she was saying "I'm In it to Win", Obama was saying "yes we can repair this nation and this world". Her eye is on the prize. His is on the future. That's real change.

6- Hillary's fame and connections makes her a strong Democratic representative. But Obama's message of optimism and solutions crosses party lines. Obama has proven that he has the charisma and power to bring independents and young people, even moderate Republicans to believe in him. A President cannot change Washington by himself: he needs Congress's support and therefore bi-partisan support. Whereas many Republicans would not compromise with Hillary, I believe Obama has the ability to inspire the Republican and independent members of congress to follow his leadership: THAT'S REAL CHANGE.

Watch the two videos below then please comment. I would love to hear your thoughts on this important matter. Keep in mind that I love you all even if you disagree with me. The most important thing is that we are actively involved in our democracy. OBAMA GAVE THIS SPEECH AFTER HIS WIN IN THE SOUTH CAROLINA PRIMARY: THIS MUSIC VIDEO WAS MADE BY THE BLACK EYED PEAS AFTER THEY WERE INSPIRED BY HIS "YES WE CAN" SPEECH:

VOTE or Shut Up

2008-02-05T22:02:00.001+01:00

"Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don't vote"

-William Simon

Vote today. It'll be the most important thing you do all day, even all year.

And if you don't vote today, I don't want to hear you complain once about the economy, the war, education, laws, environments, or any other civic matter for the next 4-8 years. :-)

GO OBAMA! (Sorry, I couldn't resist)

Parties, Parties, and Parties

2008-02-05T21:00:00.000+01:00

Life in LA is always a party. Quite a few Birthday parties (shout outs to Kelly, Marc, & Greg!), Superbowl parties, and housewarming parties. Here are some photos:

THE SUPERBOWL

The Superbowl has been an unofficial American holiday in the last several decades. Millions of people, even those that don't follow football tune-in to watch the ultimate football match. My parents have an annual SuperBowl party that friends actually fly in to attend! Indeed, so many people watch the game live (as opposed to recording it on TiVo for later) that is the biggest television event every year. Advertisers pay millions of dollars to show a 30-second ad. Usually they're the best commercials all year but this year's crop were lackluster. You can catch the ads here: ! At least the game was good- to be honest I was rooting for both teams: I would have loved to have seen the New England Patriots and QB Tom Brady have a perfect season but I also am a fan of seeing the little guy win. Plus, it would be really cool seeing the New York Giant's QB Eli Manning (below) come out from under the shadow of his older brother Payton who plays QB for the Indianapolis Colts. The last quarter, with both teams making points against the other until the final seconds was nothing short of epic.

BRYAN & BRIAN'S HOUSEWARMING PARTY This is my buddy Bryan aka DJ Digital Imposter mixing up some beats at a little party at his place. He's got an amazing talent to keep a great vibe going. I've told him he damn well better be spinning at my birthday party next year. His roommate is named Brian, too... together, we call ourselves the "Briangle".

KELLY'S BIRTHDAY / DOCTORATE GRADUATION PARTY This is our friend Kelly giving a speech at her birthday/PhD graduation party. I just know her as the quirky cool cat from Venice Beach. So when Carlos said her mom was throwing a dinner party, I didn't think much of it. Until we arrived to her parent's beautiful Beverly Hills mansion. There were seven valets out in front of a garden that was full of winter-blooming flowers planted just for the occasion. Inside the absolutely amazing house was a staff of 30 serving us the most delicious foods- like crab served on seashells and chocolate-dipped fruits. The house was full of distinguished-looking men and women dressed very nicely wearing jewelry that could have bought islands in the South Pacific. The best part of all: all these people were actively involved board members of charities and organizations that give money and support to poor, disabled, and other-wise challenged members of our society to get an education and a job! It was so cool to see that there are many wealthy people out there who make a living out of giving back to society! What is Kelly going to do with her doctorate? She's teaching at a school for pregnant and other at-risk girls to give them a chance to graduate! Go Kelly! Happy Birthday, girl

CAPRICORNICATION- The 2nd Annual Combined Birthday Bash of Carlos and Brian

2008-01-22T02:20:00.000+01:00

This last Saturday the 19th, my friend Carlos and I celebrated our birthdays together for the second year in a row. We started doing the event, called "CAPRICORNICATION", because we have quite a few mutual friends that made it pointless to try and build competing parties when our birthdays are so close together (his is the 11th, mine is the 14th).

In addition, we've found that- especially between the two of us- we have quite an eclectic group of friends from all walks of life. Many of them a very talented (DJs, artists, ect) so it was really cool to bring everyone together in way that we could all enjoy each others' company and get to know new people in the process.

This year we had over 200 people over the course of the night who were enjoying the beautiful atmosphere and the beats of five of our friends who took turns spinning the music.

Next year's party will be even bigger. Mark your calendars!

Below are a few photos but to view the full roll, please see my MySpace, my Ofoto account, or ask me to email them to you!

More Surf Pictures for You to Enjoy

2008-01-19T20:14:00.000+01:00

Mike, my roomate, Checking Out the Surf in front of the Malibu Hills

Paddling Out

Ready for lift-off Mike, Showing how it's done.

Mike, jokes that I look like I have the Zoolander "Blue Steel" expression as I pop up on this wave.

Blue Steel: A Close-Up

Narrowly Avoiding Someone Who Tried to Steal My Wave

Does it count getting barreled if the wave is only big enough to fit your head? Mike seems to think so.

Mike Barreling Down a Wave: Great Poise, except He's Going the Wrong Way: Towards the close-out instead of away from it. :-p

The Roll and Rythm of the Waves

Wipe Out

Resting up after a long but perfect day of surf.

The Lady Washington vs. The Hawaiian Chieftain

2007-12-15T18:25:00.000+01:00

Bill (foreground above), Colin, and I had a special treat on the 15th. We boarded The Lady Washington (which played The Interceptor in Pirates of the Caribbean) and set out for a mock cannon battle against the Hawaiian Chieftain (another tall sailing ship). We went out on the water in front of Venice Beach and Playa Vista and shot black powder cannons (like the one below): BELOW: The shadow of the Lady Washington creeps up on the Hawaiian Chieftain against the backdrop of Venice Beach: Below is a short video of a cannon salvo between the two ships. Sorry you'll have to turn your screen to view it right-side up! In the video below, if you listen closely, you can hear the echo of the cannon against the Los Angeles skyline. In the days before GPS, sonar, and accurate cartography, sailors would judge their proximity to land by "sounding" the cannon and listening for an echo.

Christmas in LA LA Land

2007-12-06T20:07:00.000+01:00

Christmas in LA may not be white, but it still certainly is nice. Here are some photos from the holiday season: BELOW: (left to right) Nick, Santa, Bill, our skipper Johh, his wife, and Colin pose in front of the Christmas tree at a tree trimming party. BELOW: The Marines collect gifts given to the Toys for Tots Charity hosted by Parade Magazine. BELOW: The Parade Toys for Tots Party: Paramount Studios decorates for Christmas: Boats decorated in their Christmas best parade around the marina in LA:

Epic Surf in California

2007-12-05T19:42:00.000+01:00

Last month (I'm writing this after the new year), we had some killer surf come into LA. A storm that was flooding the Northwest sent a swell of energy down the coast and we got some great waves. The waves were double-overhead- 10 feet plus (3+ meters). My mom asked me to send pics and video so here it is for all of you to enjoy.

Sorry the video is so rough. I actually thought I was taking a photo with my camera, not a video! Duh! Anyway, it's hard to get proper perspective but let's put it this way: those waves are so big you can barely tell that their are crazy guys out surfing on them!

BELOW: Surfers line up at Sunset Beach in Malibu, California. Looking south on the horizon you can see Santa Monica

BELOW: You see all those little black dots in front of the waves? Those are people!

Business in Seattle

2007-12-04T17:20:00.000+01:00

ABOVE: The Seattle skyline on the horizon

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to go on a business trip to Seattle. While there, I was able to see my old friend Ryan who went to Pepperdine University with me. If there are two things that Seattle is famous for it's rain and coffee. Weather is always "rain with a chance of sun" rather than the other way around up in the green and beautiful Northwest. And the friendly down-to-earth people of the Northwest are all coffee addicts. Of course this is appropriate since the Seattle area is home to the world's most successful coffee house chain, Starbucks. And that java helps create energy for other Seattle corporations: Boeing, Microsoft, Nordstrom's, Amazon.com, etc...

Below is a picture of Ryan multi-tasking: walking back home, texting on his phone, smoking, and drinking his "Short Latte Double-espresso 1% milk, 1/2 pump cinnamon dolce, 1/3 pump pumpkin spice, 1/5 pump white mocha no cream with froth" (I am not kidding, it takes longer to order the drink then to drink it- any non-Starbucks barista in the world other than Seattle would probably kill you if you tried to order it so don't!).

BELOW: The Seattle sky is so low and heavy, I saw it swallowing up the buildings on my way to work!

THANKSgiving

2007-11-26T18:09:00.000+01:00

Above you can see the two of the three Thanksgiving meal dinners I had this Thanksgiving. Ugg, by the end of the day just the thought of food made me sick. I always joke around that only Americans would have a holiday whose tradition centers around eating a ton of fatty high-caloric foods. Of course Thanksgiving really centers around being with family and friends and taking a day to stop, think about, and to really express the things that you are thankful for in your life.

So it the spirit of Thanksgiving I would like to thank my friends, both near and far, for always being there, for forgiving me of my faults, and celebrating my successes this year with me. I've learned a lot about myself and about life from you and I'm thankful for it. I'm also thankful for my family. I am blessed with an amazing family that is fun and close. My parents are a real inspiration to me and I owe a lot of my accomplishments to them and their examples.

Why Doesn't the World Just Share?

2007-11-17T17:53:00.000+01:00

We don't stop and listen to children often enough.

I went to the bank today. I girl that couldn't have been more than 7 or 8 years old took only a minute to write and draw this while we were in line to speak with the banker. Her mother called and she abandoned it on the table.

I was so stunned by the simplicity of its prose and the depth of its wisdom that I had to take a picture of it. I left it there for others to read.

Alice in Wonderland Party- Halloween 2007

2007-10-29T17:36:00.000+01:00

On Saturday we went over to my friend John Ward's house for his annual Halloween party. This year's theme was from the classic drug-inspired Disney movie, Alice in Wonderland. He and his friends are so crazy- they started planning and developing the decorations for this party in MAY! They really know how to pull off an amazing party though- as you can see from the photos. Because parking is virtually impossible in the Hollywood Hills, we had to valet our cars down on Ventura Blvd and take a shuttle up to the house. I'm sure the crowd we formed was quite a scene for the people driving by! The van technically only sat 12 people but I think we had over 25 in there- it was like a clown car getting in and out of that thing!
There were hundreds and hundreds of people at this party. It really got pumping around 9 and when Karl and I went hom at 3 it was still going strong. Everyone was in such creative costumes. Halloween is such a crazy holiday- it's the only time of year when it's socially condoned for girls to dress slutty and guys to wear dresses!

This year I was Chris Crocker and my friend was VMA Britney! Evan would yell "It's Britney , B!tch!" (like on her album) and then I would wail at the top of my lungs "Leave Britney Alone! All you people want is more, more, more, more, more!" People were dying with laughter. We owned that party! The exterior of the house. This living room was turned into the Flower room. Karl and I in front of the daisies we built with a motor to sway them from side to side. It was no easy feat- and Karl has a small drill hole in his finger to prove it! Ouch! Karl and I have some tea at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party in the basement. Karl and I helped build the fountains. Rene and her Tarzan. Chad, Karl and I, Stefano and Marcus. Chad, Mario, Aaron (foreground), Karl, and I HEY WAIT A SECOND, FATHER, THAT'S NOT THE SACRAMENT!

Reverse 911 Calls- A Reason for Keeping Land Lines?

2007-10-27T02:27:00.000+02:00

They say that the Southern California wildfire evacuations were the largest evacuation of American civilians since the Civil War. One of the reasons that they were able to evacuate 1,000,000 people so quickly and efficiently is because of something called "Reverse 911" calls. Instead of people calling 911, 911 called them! For those of you who live outside the USA, 911 is the number you call in an emergency to summon local police, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians. When the fires started getting bad at 4 in the morning, emergency services called the citizens and told them to evacuate.

I haven't had a landline phone number since I moved out on my own almost seven years ago. I only have a cell phone that is obviously unlisted to the city and people who don't know me. Situations like this make me wonder if (a) reverse-911 calls can contact cell phones and (b) should we create an emergency phone tree database at the risk of losing some privacy? THIS PHOTO FROM THE LA TIMES IS EXACTLY WHAT I SAW WHEN WE WENT SURFING LAST SUNDAY. IT WAS A FANTASTIC SURF DAY DESPITE THE TERRIBLE DAY IT WAS FOR MANY CALIFORNIANS.

Living in the Shadow of the Fires

2007-10-25T03:39:00.000+02:00

Well, you've all heard the stats: over 1,400 homes have burned and nearly 1,000,000 people have been evacuated. Fortunately only 3 people are dead. Most of the fires are at least partially contained now but it will be a few more days until they are extinguished. They say that at least a few of the fires were started by an arsonist.

The days have been strange here. Even though the closest fire to me is 30 minutes north in Malibu, we are surrounded by the fires. The air feels thick and heavy. When the hot Santa Ana winds blow, you can feel the weight of the smoke particles. It strangely smells like a campfire in the middle of the city. The sky has been an ominous dark grey smokey color for days. The sunsets have been huge brilliantly colored displays of nature. They would seem so much more beautiful if it wasn't for the fact that they were created by the ash and vapors from people's lives and homes literally going up in flames.

Despite all this horror and destruction, it has been insiring to see people helping people. They say that too many people are volunteering to help those that have lost their homes. Thousands of people are offering their skills, hearts, and homes to make room for the people that have been evacuated from their homes. NASA is relaying satellite imagery to fire fighters so they can observe and plan their fire fighting in real time. The military, many of which have lost their own homes, are making room in the barracks so that homeless families have a place to call home. Hotels are giving rooms to the homeless. It just goes to show, when the worst things that nature and mankind can imagine occur, it gives us an opportunity to show the best that humanity can give.

Fortunately, for my immediate friends and I, life continues as normal here in Southern California. The worst thing I have to complain about is that for the second time in two weeks, Lindsay Lohan and the paparazzi have eaten lunch at a restaurant across the street from my work, making it impossible to get a good luch with all the people around. haha Such a little thing to complain about when you put it in perspective with the things that matter.

Malibu Fires, Venice Drum Circles

2007-10-23T01:41:00.000+02:00

The Venice Beach drum circle, like many drum circles across America and perhaps the world, are a really beautiful testament to humanity's love for music and community (not to mention marijuana). It's neat to see how so many people from so many backgrounds can come together and make spontaneous but beautiful music together with random instruments. Here you can see the large crowd gathering to watch, dance, or listen to the Venice Beach drum circle. It was very wierd to see the sun "set" well above the horizon. The sunlight could not pierce the thick dark smoke from the Malibu fires. Scary. Smoke pours over the campus of my alma mater, Pepperdine University.

Well, Malibu is on fire (again) as well as most of Southern California (Irvine, San Diego, Ranch Bernardo, etc). Thank you all for the concerned emails! I am safe, as are all of my friends. However, I do know people who know people who weren't so lucky. The fires are very close to my alma mater: Pepperdine University, as you can see the photo above. Thankfully, the school was designed to keep Malibu's (frequent) fires and landslides away from students and buildings and so far the school remains intact (albeit evacuated). Unforunately, many other homes have burned or will burn. It's only rained 2-3 days this year in California so the wild brush is quick to burn. In addition, the Santa Ana winds (unusual, strong, and warm winds that blow out to sea) are fanning the flames, burning everything between them and the ocean.

Sunday morning, friends and I went surfing at Sunset Point (where Sunset Blvd meets the Pacific Coast Highway between Santa Monica and Malibu). We thought it would be much busier since the emergency workers had closed the PCH access to Malibu's surf spots but it actually wasn't too busy. We got some great surfing in as we watched the ominious smoke clouds waft out over the ocean. While we were surfing, we even saw fire trucks from the Redondo Beach Fire Department (an hour south of us!) driving up to assist in the fire fighting!

Later that day, Karl and I went to walk the Venice Beach boardwalk, listen to the drum circle, and watch the sunset. It was really creepy to see the sun set 15 minutes early behind a layer of smoke clouds several degrees above the horizon! It was a beautiful fun day for me; I'm sorry it was such a terrible day of loss for many fellow Californians!

TRAPPED IN AN ELEVATOR!

2007-10-23T01:20:00.001+02:00

Have you ever gotten into an elevator and wondered what you would do if it ever got stuck? Well, I can now scratch that one off my list of life experiences (hopefully)! Some friends and I went down to San Diego to celebrate a friend's birthday. We were staying at the upscale Park Manor Suites Hotel. We had gone up-and-down on the elevator several times that night between our room, the lobby, and the rooftop club/bar. Because it's such a busy venue, they have a lady named Rae in the elevator who helps move traffic, select floors, and checks IDs for the bar.

Around 21:00, we decided to leave the rooftop club and go out on the town to party. We got in the elevator and starting stuffing dollars into Rae's boobs as tip (as is apparantely customary). After a minute or too, I say, "Shouldn't the elevator be moving by now?" The club-noise outside the elevator doors made it apparant we hadn't moved but the floor indicator inside was flashing all sorts of characters and numbers: 7, K, D, 1, 3, etc. Obviously that's NOT a good thing to see!

So we banged on the doors and got in touch with management through our cell phones. They asked Rae if we were ok and she responded saying "I couldn't imagine being with a better group of people!" Indeed, there were 10 of us (7 of us from my party alone) in that small little elevator. We could have been pushed into a panic by the situation (there we were: dangling seven floors up, thinking any second we could plummet to our deaths) but instead we were laughing, taking photos, introducing ourselves to Rae and the other two strangers in the elevator and talking about how this was something you usually just saw on TV. After a few minutes we had to open up one of the escape hatches to get some fresh air but otherwise it was a pretty mundane experience. We were in there for over 40 minutes before the San Diego Fire Department was able to break open the doors. We got photos with our "rescuers" as well but I'm afraid they weren't on my camera. After we got out, they gave us some water and then we went down, grabbed a couple of taxis and went off to party in beautiful San Diego! Nothing's going to get us down, baby!

Needless to say, we took the stairs to our 3rd floor suite for the rest of our trip!

My Jack O'Lantern for Halloween

2007-10-19T02:43:00.000+02:00

Halloween is my favorite holiday. Every other holiday is about good, wholesome, happy, warm, fuzzy, cheesy stuff. Halloween is about getting scared or scaring other people. It's about being crazy and weird- it's the only time of year adults can act like kids! I love running through haunted houses and corn mazes. I love going to horror movies and seeing everyone in their crazy costumes! That and- regardless of what you Europeans think- I LOVE pumpkin pie!

Earlier this week my friend Brooke had a pumpkin-carving party. There were 20-30 people over there- a very eclectic group of girls, boys, gays, straights, goths, punks, working professionals, surfers, stoners, skaters, whatever- and this is the diverse patch of Jack O'Lanterns that we created. I bet you can guess which one is mine!

Point Break Live!

2007-10-19T02:17:00.000+02:00

'Keanu' jumps on 'Patrick' during a skydiving scene with the cue girl giving Keanu his lines. Another shot from the ridiculous sky diving scene.

So last weekend some friends and I went to see Point Break Live! downtown in some old run down bar. For those of you who have a thing for classic B-movies and live in a major city- YOU HAVE TO GO SEE THIS SHOW! It's hilarious!

The basic run-down (don't worry, I won't give away any major spoilers) is that they do a parody of the Keanu Reeves-Patrick Swayze surfer-cop movie: Point Break. If any of you have seen this 1991 film, you know that no movie could be worse for a live theatrical performance- it's packed with surfing, bank robberies, sky diving, and other larger-than-life scenes- which makes it all the more ridiculously funny!

Of course, with it being produced by a small independent theater company with limited funds, they don't have enough money to cast everyone. So they pick someone from the audience to be the one actor who has absolutely no artistic talent: Keanu Reeves. A girl with cue cards lets him know his lines in a very melodramatic manner. During fight scenes, she acts as Keanu's stunt double. Only when she is in the most intimate of positions with the other male actors does the director yell "Cut!" and the Keanu actor has to take the place of his stand-in! :-) Awkward!

They sell ponchos and fake money at the door telling you you will get wet and you will be robbed. It is absolutely hysterical. And if you don't go for the comedy, ladies, go for all the hot shirtless surfer guys! GO SEE IT!

Does this Happen to Anyone Else or Am I Just on Drugs?

2007-10-06T22:23:00.000+02:00

So it all started when I thought I would go get some groceries while waiting to hear back from friends on our plans for the day...

so I started as I started to make my grocery list, I realized the grocery store isn't far from the laundry mat so I decided I would do my laundry, too

so I started separating my laundry when I thought about how the laundry mat is next door to ZJ's Surf Shop...

...I needed to go to ZJ's to pick up a new key lock and HEY! I could also repair a ding that was on my surfboard....

so then I pull out my surfboard and take a closer look at the damage and think I should look up online exactly how to fix this...

so I go online and see an advertisement for 1-800-GOT-JUNK. HEY! I've got junk- I've got that old file cabinet posing as a bartable in the kitchen...

The file cabinet lock was broke last year so I go outside to grab an old pipe to wrench the door open...

Inside I find all these momentos from my childhood- the school newspapers from back when I was the editor-in-chief, old tax documents, porn I stole from my uncle, etc...

Then I decide that since this old file cabinet is finally out of the way, I can really sweep and mop the kitchen floor well...

so then I pull everything out of the kitchen out of the way (I even pulled the oven away from the wall) in order to make the kitchen floor as clean as possible.

So right now, as we speak, an abandoned grocery list sits on top of a bookcase that is to replace the file cabinet I just smashed open, the kitchen floor is swept but not mopped, the kitchen is empty, and the living room is full of laundry piles, a dinged surfboard, and I am standing in the middle of it all wondering where to begin! LOL!!! IS THIS NORMAL!??!!?!?!?

Companies I Love and Hate

2007-10-06T19:34:00.000+02:00

Corporate America is full of angels and devils. My friend Carlos would say they are all devils hell-bent on bringing about the destruction of mankind in order to make a profit but I would say there are a few companies out there that don't deserve that reputation. I want to take a second to praise or burn a few of the best and the worst. I would also LOVE to hear from you, either about these companies or other that you love or hate. Send me comments!

SOME THE ANGELS:

Of course anyone who knows me and or see me walking around town with my PowerBook, iPhone, and iPod won't be surprised that Apple is at the top of my list. They come out with industry-evolving innovative products every quarter and have amazing customer service. And even though they are becoming a big company, they still act and think like a small one.

I've been in and out of a LOT of Enterprise's rental cars (I think I've driven every vehicle in their West LA fleet this summer). Every car is clean and well-maintained. They are decently priced. Every office gives fast, friendly service and they regularly blow me away by going out-of-their way to make sure I have a great experience with them. They not only pick you up from home or work or the body shop- they'll volunteer to drop you off, too! Talk about full service!

THE DEVILS

Oddly enough, I started going to Enterprise after I had a horrendous experience with Thrifty Rental Cars. NEVER, EVER PATRONIZE THIS HORRIBLE BUSINESS. While on a weekend trip once, my bag was stolen while I was swimming. The bag had my clothes, my wallet, and my car keys in it. I was completely stranded. After waiting on their EMERGENCY ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE FOR FOUR HOURS, I tried to get Thrifty to come pick me up or provide me with new keys or a new car and they totally refused. I ended up being stranded, nearly naked, and cold at 11PM at night without a dime to my name, identification, or transportation. If it wasn't for encountering an angel name John Altieri (still a good friend) I don't know what would have happened to me that night. Worse, when Thrifty finally agreed to tow the car back to their lot (and charge me for it of course), my very expensive digital camera and some other personal items that were in the car disappeared. Talk about kicking a guy when he's down! After months of talking to the highest levels of customer service, I ended up having to sue the company to get reimbursed for all the losses I incurred!

Bank of America is the most evil bank on the planet- which is quite a statement. They have the absolute worst customer service ever, everyone in their call centers and branches talk to you like you're a worthless nobody and their coorosive culture is contagious- when BofA bought MBNA, they ruined how happy I was with my Platnium Plus World Points MasterCard. I won't go into more details as it would give out sensitive financial information but you get the drift. Stick with Credit Unions, people!

LOCAL EDITION: Never go to Pampas Furniture on Beverly Blvd. They lie to you about delivery dates and if you're not very careful you'll get screwed on their "No Refunds, Returns, or Exchanges" policy. The staff are reasonably friendly but their management are the most unpleasant stubborn people ever. They don't care about you. They only want your money. Then get out of their store and if you never come back, oh well. It's LA; there are always more suckers walking through the door.

Similarly, never go to VW Pasadena. Again, the staff is incredible- they were very friendly and helpful, going out of their way for me- but the management sucks. After my GTI failed on me eight days after purchase, they refused to cover all of the costs of repair (even though it was a certified car with warranty) even though their service techs somehow missed the fact they had sold me a car with a bent rear axle. And they have thusfar resisted reimbursing me for the towing and rental costs I incurred to return to the dealership! What's even more unbelievable- the sales manager had the nerve to tell me that if I wasn't willing to risk problems like these, I should have just bought new or from a private party- not certified used! I felt so demeaned as a customer. Of course, he changed his tune once he found out this GTI is just a stop-gap solution between the totaled Jetta and buying a custom-ordered German coupe in the $40k+ range, but by then the damage was done. It looks as if I will have to sue them to get my money back, too. Ugh.

Cars #12 and #13

2007-10-06T19:05:00.000+02:00

So while my GTI is at the body shop (see below, and below that as well), I was driving this Ford Focus. I hated it. I hate domestic cars, especially Fords. They feel and look cheap, inside and outside. Plus I hate automatic transmissions and not having a sunroof. And I hate cars with no power. I also hate cars that have things break on them when they are brand new. That's why when the cigarette lighter stopped working (probably a blown fuse, but I with my iPhone and iPod I can't be more than 10 feet from a charger at all times), I returned it and picked up the car below: This Hyundai is not exactly my ideal car- it looks nice on the outside and has a sunroof and decent power but it still feels cheap and strange on the inside. I love German interiors and miss mine. Still, this Hyundai will have to do until I get back. This is my THIRTEENTH CAR since my Jetta was totaled in mid-June! That means that since then I've changed the car in my driveway slightly more than once a week!!! By now my neighbors must be thinking I'm running a stolen car crime ring or something!

Body Shop Spy Cam Brought to You by Esurance

2007-10-06T18:56:00.000+02:00

So it looks like I won't get my car back for another week because after they took off the bumper there were some internal parts that were damaged in the fender bender. Thank goodness it didn't impact the frame at all so there is no long-term harm done. I'm also glad to note that the other guy and his insurance accepted fault without a fight so it will be a quick and easy insurance claim. Good-because I'm STILL waiting for a resolution on the accident that took my Jetta last June! Unbelievable! I still expect that one to come back largely in my favor due to the physical evidence and witness accounts.

Anyway, isn't this photo cool? Esurance (my insurance company) has a program where the body shop takes a photo of my car at the end of each day so I can watch the progress online as they make my car look like new again! Cool!

See! LA DOES have Culture (you just have to drive all over town to find it!)

2007-10-06T18:13:00.000+02:00

I always say that LA is the city you love to hate and hate to love. Even though at first glance the city is a cultural wasteland, a superficial place that lives in the now, it really does have culture and community. Granted you have to drive all over to find it because the city is spread across such a large geographic area.

Take, for example, the weekend before last. I went over to my friend Marc's place downtown and his complex was having a massive rooftop pot luck. There were about 30-40 neighbors there listening to the DJ and watching the belly dancer. It was a very enjoyable and eclectic experience. We're having a smaller pot luck dinner tonight... western themed. Should be fun!

Later, Bill and I headed over to East-West, a watering hole on Santa Monica Blvd, to celebrate Nick's 21st Birthday (I think this was celebration #2 out of 50... he had two weeks of parties just to get as many free drinks as he could, freaking lush, haha). It turned out they were doing a kareoke party. And guess who got up to sing? Well, I can't remember their names anymore but they were two gals from the original cast of the Broadway musical Rent! They sang a couple of their songs for us- including one of my favorites: "Seasons of Love (525,600 Minutes)"! It was so cool to have a Broadway performance in an intimate setting like that in some random place on some quiet night. It was definitly one of those nights that you remember why you love this city...even if you hate it! You never know what to expect night after night.

WATER CONTINUES TO FALL FROM THE SKY IN CALIFORNIA (PLEASE SEE OUR EARLIER BROADCAST BELOW)

2007-09-22T22:36:00.000+02:00

It rained another couple of inches today. I guess I really shouldn't complain though- afterall it's only rained twice this year- once in July and once in February- for a total of 1.91 inches (5cm) this entire year. Santa Monica's average annual rainfall is 9" (23cm), virtually all of which happens in the first three months of the year. Because rain is so seldom here, the streets aren't designed to handle much water: they're flat and the stormdrains are small so storms can quickly flood the city. In the picture below you can see that the curb and sidewalk are under water in downtown Santa Monica. As I made this turn it was hard to know where the street ended and the curb began- yikes!

BRIAN'S BAD "CARMA" CONTINUES

2007-09-22T22:22:00.000+02:00

BLEMISHED! MY NEW CAR IS BLEMISHED! UUUUUGGGGGHHHHH! Last night as I was driving home with friends and somebody rear-ended me! We were stopped at a red light and when it turned green he was a bit too assertive with the accelerator so it's totally his fault. A real brainless move on his part. The damage isn't bad and his insurance will make it all right but still- I just got the car back on Tuesday!

Now I'm going to have to get another rental car while they fix it. If anyone's counting, this next rental car will be my ELEVENTH vehicle in 3.5 months! Unbelievable. I feel like I am the star of a comedic tragedy auto-related reality show.

Shall we list it out now:

1. Mid July: Brian's beloved Jetta is totaled. Fortunately it's the other guy's fault.

2. Late July: Brian buys a Honda Civic. Within four days, the Honda overheats not once, but twice. It also doesn't pass smog. Forunately California Law allows Brian to cancel the sale and return the car to the original owner.

3. Mid August: Brian buys a GTI Turbo. Eight days later the transmission fails and we find out they had sold me a car with bent rear axle. Forunately virtually all of it is covered under warranty.

4. Mid September: Four days he picks up the GTI, some idiot runs into him from behind. Forunately (again) it's the other guy's fault.

When is this madness going to end? I feel like a modern day Job!

WATER FALLS FROM THE SKY IN CALIFORNIA!

2007-09-22T20:03:00.000+02:00

Large, dark, gaseous objects were seen moving across the sky above Santa Monica's Pier and beaches, even as far north as the Malibu Hills causing great alarm to the Californians. SANTA MONICA, CA- Thursday afternoon, the citizens of Santa Monica got an unexpected surprise (yes, I realize that's a redundant phrase but they say it on the news all the time). Water started falling from the sky!

"It was really terrifying," said Mario Garcia, "everything was suddenly wet and slippery. Cars were sliding all over road and into each other- even cars that didn't belong to Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan! B-list celebrities were running barefoot trying to protect their Dolce & Gabana sandals from the puddles that started forming all over the place. I heard the water got high enough to cover the graffitti on the concrete walls of the Los Angeles River today so you know it must have been bad."

The water started falling around 15:00 in the the afternoon and didn't stop for several hours. Overall, 0.92 inches (23mm) of water fell on the city of Santa Monica. "I thought a fire hydrant had burst or someone had their sprinklers on too high so I called in a complaint to the City Water Deptartment," said Los Angelean Bill Tan, "After they told me it was something called 'rain'- apparantly a perfectly normal weather phenonemom in other parts of the country- I calmed down. But I still stayed indoors and locked the doors. Can you believe it- I had to wash my Lexus FOUR times today- that's twice as many times as usual!"

We asked local Brian Bosworth what he thought of it all- "It's nice to hear the TV meterologist saying something different from 'blue skies and 75 (24C) in Santa Monica and the beaches, 80 (27C) in LA, 90 (30C) in the valley.' but still this is going to suck for the surf- you can't surf for 3 days after a rainstorm here because the ocean gets dirty from all the city run-off. Bummer."

I GOT MY GTI TURBO BACK SO NO MORE DRIVING AROUND LIKE A FREAKING YUPPY! (See Below)

2007-09-22T19:52:00.000+02:00

Sorry but you can't be taken seriously as a surfer when you pull up in this suburban crawler.

Last Weekend: At the Happiest Place on Earth

2007-09-22T19:04:00.000+02:00

Last weekend I went with friends to the "Happiest Place on Earth": Disneyland. Even though it's only 45 minutes away from my house but it's too similar to work when you work for Disney. After all, every meeting I have is about how we are going to leverage Disney's characters, films, actors, singers, and other media to make dreams come true (and make a lot of money doing it)!

It was my first time using my Silver Pass, a VIP employee card that gets you and some friends in for free (parking AND admission) and gets you discounts all over the park. It was really awesome getting the A-List treatment! Most of all though, it was just nice being able to go spend time with my friends and have fun on the rides. The new Pirates of the Caribbean (with Jack Sparrow and other POTC characters in it now) is pretty cool and so is the new Nemo Submarine ride, but Space Mountain is still my favorite!

NOTE: I don't work AT Disneyland, as many people mistakenly believe. Disney's headquarters and studios are an 1.5 hours north of Disneyland in Burbank, California. Disneyland was originally supposed to be there too but then they decided they had to move Disneyland to Anaheim, California, in order to have the space to be able to build Walt's dream.

Which Car is Mine Again?

2007-09-14T21:49:00.000+02:00

You know, I'm pretty sure I bought a GTI Turbo a few weeks ago yet this Passat has been the car in my driveway for quite some time now. I'm not complaining; it's a great car- sunroof, leather, power everything, yadda yadda. However, it'd really be nice if I could have the car I bought!

The GTI has been at the dealership for some work (insert a very long story here that- trust me- you don't want to know about). We are also in quite a squabble over how much of it should be covered under my warranty. I want my car back in near-new condition and I don't expect to pay a dime more than what I've already gave them when I signed the papers.

With all the rental cars and loaner cars, the lemon cars, the new GTI, and the old totaled Jetta, I have been in over 10 CARS in the last three months!!! I've driven 2 Dodge Calibers, 2 Passats, a Dodge Dakota, a Nissan Altima, a VW GTI, a VW Jetta, and a Honda Civic! I feel like I should be a critic for an auto magazine because I could tell you my rants and raves on all these cars! Everytime I go out to a parking lot I get lost- not sure of what type and color of car I'm driving, let alone where I parked it! Here's to hoping I get my little yellow devil back soon!

King of the Hill: Results

2007-09-14T21:34:00.000+02:00

Veloce and her crew were invited to last Wednesday's "King of the Hill Invitational", a regatta for the top 21 boats. I wish I could say that we came in first but we actually were near last place. Maybe it was because it was the last real regatta of the year but almost the entire crew showed up (the minimum crew is 7, the average is closer to 11, and today we had a record-breaking 16 people!!!) to sail on Veloce. All the weight helped us in the beginning leg of the race when we had strong winds and rough seas but it was the death of us when we hit a ten-minute long patch of weak, shifting winds. Oh well, we still had a lot of fun, learned a lot, and are hopeful that next year we'll perform even better!

I highly recommend you go check out the funny pics my friend Bill took of us at: http://www.flickr.com/gp/10199709@N03/21L060

Here are a couple for your instant gratification:

Harris Series Recap

2007-09-11T21:45:00.000+02:00

What better way to hear the harrowing tales of our sailing adventures than from our skipper, John Heaney (with comments in italics by moi):

The Harris Series was the best of times and the worst of times. The best of times came on the second day when we had finishes of fifth and fourth in the fleet to give us the best score in the regatta of the three Schock 35's entered (the other two were Power Play and Voodoo Doll (in other words, we sailed damn well). The worst of times came after the racing was over when we were disqualified in a protest by Voodoo Doll for an alleged port/starboard (right-of-way) incident when coming into the leeward mark (a buoy we have to round in the race, we all agree that Voo Doo Doll's protest was ridiculous at best yet the Race Committee had to accept their arguement since we were the defending boat and were too far ahead of the rest of the fleet to have any impartial witnesses ).

Anyway, we sailed pretty well over the weekend and at least 1000% better than we did last year. We're getting better, and by next year we'll be great!

Summer is over and so is the regular Wednesday night racing. But we have one more chance. We qualified for the "King of the Hill" race as one of the 3 top boats in the PHRF B class, so we get to go out for one more Wednesday night and race against all of the other top qualifiers. AFTER THE RACE, SPIRO, BILL, COLIN, JOACHIM, AND I TIE DOWN AND CLEAN UP VELOCE IN HER SLIP IN MARINA DEL REY. LIZ, JOACHIM, AND COLIN LOOK ON AS SPIRO, BILL, AND I REPAIR A SMALL HOLE IN OUR SPINNAKER (THE SAIL THAT CUPS THE AIR LIKE A BOWL AND PULLS US DOWNWIND). AT THE POST-RACE AWARDS CEREMONY AT THE YACHT CLUB: I AM STANDING WITH JOACHIM (A FRIEND VISITING FROM GERMANY) AND LIZ HEANEY (THE SKIPPER'S WIFE). BELOW US ARE (LEFT TO RIGHT): SPIRO (WHO SAVED US WITH SOME QUICK-THINKING WHEN A COUPLE OF LINES SNAPPED), COLIN (WHO HAS HIS OWN PLEASURE CRUISER BOAT HE TAKES TO PARADISE COVE OFTEN), AND BILL (OUR NAVIGATOR AND SPINNAKER MAESTRO ON THE DOWNWIND LEGS).

Luau Party: Labor Day 2007

2007-09-11T21:31:00.000+02:00

Only in America would we celebrate working by...not working. Ah yes, Labor Day- the last summer holiday before the weather starts to turn (for those of you in seasonal regions) and kids head back to school. And what better way to celebrate not-working than by having a Luau party? Our friend Bruce had a wonderful catered luau pool party complete with Hawaiian dancers and fire jugglers at his beautiful home in the Hollywood Hills! It was a great way to say goodbye to summer! STOP STARING AT MY COCONUTS! EVAN AND I STOLE THE SHOW WITH OUR ENTRANCE TO THE LUAU PARTY... A DANCER SHOWS US HOW TO DANCE AS THE HAWAIIANS DO THESE GUYS SCOFF AT THE SAYING "DON'T PLAY WITH FIRE"

"Veloce" Invited to the King of the Hill Invitational

2007-09-07T02:01:00.000+02:00

Last night, the Veloce crew won 2nd place in the Wednesday night Sunset Series. Because we've sailed competitively throughout the summer, we have been invited to the season finale "King of the Hill Invitational" next Wednesday! We will also be competing in the Harris Series regatta (3 races Saturday, 2 races Sunday out of Marina del Rey). All races are hosted by the California Yacht Club. I'm looking forward to being out on the water a lot in the next little while- one last splash before "winter" (not that you can really call it that in California) sets in. JOSH SHOWS OFF THE 2ND PLACE SUNSET SERIES TROPHY AND THE KING OF THE HILL INVITATIONAL AWARD WE WON LAST NIGHT. A VERY DRUNK BILL AND IDA (THEY HAD MORE OF IDA'S NORWEGIAN RUM; DON'T TELL IDA I POSTED THIS PIC OR SHE'LL KILL ME) SHOW OFF THE KING OF THE HILL INVITATIONAL AWARD.

Heat Wave Bakes Los Angeles: One More Reason to Love Santa Monica

2007-09-04T19:24:00.000+02:00

The weather in Santa Monica both Farenheit (to the right) and Celcius (to the left) for my American and non-American friends. Click to enlarge. The weather in North Hollywood both Farenheit (to the right) and Celcius (to the left) for my American and non-American friends. Click to enlarge.

For those of you who have been paying attention to the news, Los Angeles is in the midst of a severe heat wave. For the last two weeks, the city has had 100+ (Farenheit or 38 Celcius). The heat has strained the health of the city and its citizens: four elderly people have died and over 29,000 people are without power as the power grid works overtime to supply all the maxed out air conditioning systems.

In times like this, I am really glad to live in Santa Monica. Sometimes I get a hard time from friends of mine who live in more central parts of Los Angeles (Hollywood, Downtown, Beverly Hills, etc) who can't believe I live in a sleepy beach community so far from Tinsel Town. Other times I get pity from co-workers who can't imagine driving the commute into and out of "the valley" every day. I don't mind it though. It's nice to have all the benefits of living near a major world city without having to live in the human cesspool that is LA. Also, it's really nice to come home to the things I love: the beach, the ocean, surfing/sailing, etc.

Finally, because we benefit from the ocean breeze, our temperatures are always tempered: we never get as hot as LA does in the summer or as cold as LA can get in the winter: it's 75 (24C)and blue skies virtually every day of the year. Well, except when there's a heat wave: today it's going to get up to 89 (32C), I guess I'll go take a dip in the surf! :-)

Schock 35 Nationals 2007- Marina del Rey

2007-08-29T03:09:00.000+02:00

MAKO, FOREGROUND, CROSSES SWORDS WITH VELOCE (I'M SITTING ON THE RAIL IN A BEIGE JACKET SECOND FROM THE AFT)

This last weekend we had the Schock 35 Nationals (the type of boat I crew on is called a Schock 35). Nine Schocks were in the regatta: Mako, Power Play, Code Blue, Strategem, Outlier, Perfect Circle, JoAnn, VooDoo Doll, and (ours) Veloce. Veloce, pronounced VEE-LOW-CHAY, is Italian for "fast". We competed in eight races: three on Friday, three on Saturday, and two on Sunday. I was only able to sail Saturday and Sunday due to work. Apparantly I missed the Friday excitement when my friend Nick was knocked off the boat by a swinging boom (the beam that supports the bottom of the main sail). Luckily he didn't lose consciousness and we were able to turn around and pick him up without losing anything but time. He's okay now- just has a nasty bump on the back of his head. Thank goodness. It could have been much worse.

On my first race on Saturday we were able to secure second place as we went against the rest of the fleet and chose an opposite tack (basically driving away from the rest of them forming a "V" on better winds then they had. It was funny to see them all looking at us, wishing they had figured out the favored tack rather than following the crowd. Unfortunately, due to complications such as worn lines, a twisted sail, and a ripped sail, we didn't perform consistantly well in the other races. Still, we performed exceptionally well under such conditions and were even able to reach 11 knots in a 20-knot wind- which is nearly twice the speed at which we normally sail!

On Sunday, the weather was really unpredictable as the remnants of Hurricane Dean from Hawaii reached Los Angeles. The wind direction and speed were all over the place- one minute we would have 4 knot winds from Malibu (to the North) and the next we would have 19 knot winds from Catalina (to the West) and then they'd switch again. During those times we had to postpone the race until conditions stabilized. It made picking the right sails (we have different kind of sails stowed below deck for different conditions) more important than ever and we were able to make the right decisions so that we gave the leading boats a run for their money. In overall standings, we didn't do that well. But hey- we're one of the newest crews in the fleet and we are already sailing very well together. It's only a matter of time until we have a Nationals trophy. One thing for sure: we certainly have more fun out on the water than any other crew...as you will see from the photos below!

MIRIAM USES AN IMPROVISED MICROPHONE (A HANDLE WE USE TO HOIST THE SAILS) TO THANK THE CREW AFTER SHE WAS DECLARED OUR MOST VALUABLE PLAYER BY OUR SKIPPER, JOHN HEANEY. OUR 9-BOAT SCHOCK 35 SAILING CLUB IS PRESIDED BY STEVE. HE IS THE GUY SEEN ABOVE WITH THE SALT-AND-PEPPER HAIR ON THE BOAT HE NAMED AFTER HIS WIFE. "OUTLIER" CAN BE AN AGGRESSIVE BOAT. IN ONE RACE, THEY TRIED TO CUT US OFF AND WE NEARLY RAN THEM INTO THE COMMITTEE BOAT IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN OUR PLACE AT THE STARTING LINE! THEY ARE A COMPETITIVE CREW BUT THEY ARE GOOD PEOPLE. KIM STUART IS THE LONE FEMALE CAPTAIN IN OUR FLEET BUT THAT DOESN'T STOP HERE FROM BEING ONE OF THE MOST AGGRESSIVE SKIPPERS IN THE FLEET! IN A WEDNESDAY RACE A FEW WEEKS AGO SHE WENT TO THE WRONG MARK- AND THEN HAD THE GALL TO PROTEST THE REST OF THE FLEET! IT WAS QUITE FUNNY! SHE BOUGHT HER BOAT FROM HER EX-BOYFRIEND (WHO WAS BANISHED FROM THE FLEET AFTER COMMANDEERING THE COMMITTEE BOAT WHEN HE WAS DRUNK ONE NIGHT) AND RENAMED IT "VOODOO DOLL". THE SAILING CLUBS ARE SO FULL OF DRAMA IT IS HILARIOUS. "VOO DOO DOLL" HAS CHOKED THEIR (PINK) CHICKEN MASCOT AND HUNG IT FROM THE RIGGING! THIS IS MAKO, A GREAT SHIP RUN BY A GREAT CREW AND CAPTAINED BY A MAN WHO HASN'T LET HIS WHEELCHAIR KEEP HIM FROM HIS PASSION. THEY ARE A REAL INSPIRATION TO THE FLEET AND WE ARE PROUD THAT THEY TOOK FIRST IN THIS YEAR'S NATIONALS...OF COURSE WE MADE THEM HAVE TO WORK HARD FOR THE TROPHY! WHILE WAITING BETWEEN RACES, MIRIAM DOES A POLE DANCE ON THE RIGGING FOR US! BILL AND I CHILLING ON DECK BETWEEN RACES. MIKE IS BEHIND US. ARMANDO, BILL, CECILE, COLLIN AND I CHILLING ON DECK BETWEEN RACES IDA AND MIRIUM HIDE UNDER THE JIB SAIL TO AVOID A LIGHT SPRINKLE OF RAIN THAT CAME THROUGH WHILE WE WERE WAITING BETWEEN RACES. MIRIUM RETURNS THE BUCKET TO THE CABIN AFTER FLUSHING IT OUT. IF YOU CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT THE BUCKET IS FOR ON A RACING BOAT I'LL GIVE YOU A HINT: ONLY GIRLS USE IT. :-) AH, LIFE ON A RACING CREW! THE BOAT TO THE RIGHT IS THE RACE COMMITTEE BOAT FROM THE SANTA MONICA WIND JAMMERS YACHT CLUB. THAT BOAT AND A BUOY MARK THE STARTLINE FOR THE RACE, AND SOMETIMES THE FINISHLINE, TOO. THEY MAKE SURE WE OBEY THE SAILING AND RACING LAWS. THE ORANGE FLAG LETS YOU DISTINGUISH THEM FROM THE OTHER SAILBOATS IN THE FLEET. THE TRIANGULAR FLAG TOWARDS THE BOW (FRONT) IS THE SMWJYC INSIGNIA. THE TOP SIGNAL FLAG IS A "D FOR DELTA" FLAG TELLING US THAT WE WILL HAVE TO RACE TO THE WINDWARD MARK (SEE BELOW) TWICE AND BACK. THE SIGNAL FLAGS BELOW THAT BUT ABOVE THE ORANGE ONE TELL YOU THE BEARING OF THE WIND: 250 DEGREES. WE HAVE TO HANG OFF THE SIDES OF THE BOAT ON THE UPWIND LEG OF THE RACE IN ORDER TO USE OUR WEIGHT TO LEVEL OUT THE BOAT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. THE WIND PUSHES AGAINST THE SAIL AND CAUSES THE BOAT TO HEEL. THE BOAT IS NOT IN DANGER OF CAPSIZING (BECAUSE THE WIND CAN ONLY PUSH IT SIDEWAYS, NOT DOWN INTO THE WATER) HOWEVER WHEN THE BOAT IS HEELED OVER THE WIND IS SPILLING OVER OUR SAILS INSTEAD OF INTO THEM- SO WE CAN GO FASTER BY CATCHING MORE WIND IF WE USE OUR WEIGHT TO PULL THE EDGE OF THE BOAT DOWN- IT'S VERY EXCITING AND GIVES YOU A GREAT VIEW OF THE COAST AND THE RACE! ALL THE BOATS HAVE TO ROUND THE WINDWARD MARK (AN UPWIND INFLATABLE BOUY, BEHIND MIRIAM)IN A COUNTER-CLOCKWISE DIRECTION AND HEAD BACK TOWARDS LAND AND THE FINISH LINE. THIS CAN BE A DANGEROUS, EXCITING, AND DECISIVE POINT IN THE RACE AS ALL THE BOATS CROWD AROUND THE MARK, RACING AT TOP SPEEDS, TURNING, PULLING DOWN JIBS (THAT PULL YOU UPWIND), RAISING SPINNAKERS (WHICH PULL YOU DOWNWIND), AND TRYING TO AVOID COLLISIONS WITH BOATS THAT ARE RACING ONLY A FEW FEET AWAY FROM YOU, AND MAKING SURE TO RESPECT THE HONOR SAILING RIGHT-OF-WAY LAWS (OR AT LEAST USE THEM TO OUR ADVANTAGE TO CUT SOMEONE OFF AND STEAL THEIR WIND!). THIS IS WHERE WE LIKE TO SEE THE FLEET: BEHIND US! IDA IS THE NORWEGIAN REPRESENTATIVE OF OUR VERY INTERNATIONAL CREW (WE HAVE PHILLIPINOS, INDO-CHINESE, LATINOS, ARGENTINES, IN ADDITION TO THE STANDARD WHITE, MIDDLE-AGED UPPER-CLASS WHITES THAT USUALLY DOMINATE SAILING CREWS). FOR THE RACE, IDA MADE THESE WONDERFULLY FATTENING NORWEGIAN WAFFLES WITH SOUR CREAM AND STRAWBERRIES! BILL AND MARIA SHARE A "SKAL" (A NORWEGIAN TOAST, PRONOUNCED "SKOHL") IN FRONT OF ARMANDO AND MIRIAM. IDA TAUGHT US THE PROPER TECHNIQUE. AS WITH ALL PROPER TOASTS, YOU MUST LOOK THE PERSON IN THE EYE FOR A MOMENT AND RAISE YOUR GLASSES WITHOUT TOUCHING THEM. THEN YOU SAY "SKAL" AND YOU DRINK WITHOUT EVER AVERTING YOUR EYES, THEN YOU TOAST AGAIN. YOU REPEAT AGAIN WITH EACH PERSON. THIS IS THE SANTA MONICA WIND JAMMERS YACHT CLUB AT MARINA DEL REY. OUR BOAT, VELOCE BELONGS TO THIS CLUB AND THIS WAS THE CLUB HOSTING THE NATIONALS RACE THIS WEEKEND. WE ALSO OFTEN RACE ON WEDNESDAY NIGHTS WITH THE CALIFORNIA YACHT CLUB ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MARINA NEAR VENICE. HERE IS SOME OF THE CREW (L-R: LINDA LEE, MIRIAM, MIKE, IDA, AND MYSELF) ENJOYING OURSELVES AT A DINNER AT THE YACHT CLUB. MOST OF THEM WERE QUITE DRUNK FROM THE RUM THAT CECILE HAD GIVEN US TO SNEAK INTO OUR COFFEES. WE WERE BY FAR THE LOUDEST TABLE- APPROPRIATELY DRUNK AS SAILORS!

I Love My Job

2007-08-24T20:01:00.000+02:00

People keep asking me about how things are going at my new job. The short answer is above: I LOVE IT. I am really lucky to have slipped into a job that really matches with my strengths, interests, and personality.

For those that don't remember or didn't hear: I work for Disney Online in a Marketing/Promotions creative strategy think-tank.

The job is really fun and the people I work with are very cool. I have settled into the new job very well and already am in good favor with many managers (even those in senior positions) who I can count on as friends and advisors. I've already adapted to the unique have-fun-while-working-hard Disney culture very well. I've earned the reputation of one who brings a healthy sense of humor into otherwise mundane workflow processes and a fresh perspective that will often inspire the team to take a marketing campaign in a whole new direction.

I can wear jeans to work and I have permission to take Wednesdays off early for sailing (for the sake of keeping a healthy work-life balance which Disney is all about). Granted, the pace and scope of work is such that an hour can feel like eternity and the it's not uncommon for me to work 10-11 hour days- but since it's so much fun I usually don't notice the time until I come home exhausted. There really is magic at this place. It's amazing working for a company like Disney!

My New (Turbo-Charged) Wheels

2007-08-21T19:23:00.000+02:00

For those of you that have chatted with me on the phone or in person over the last month, you know what a hell the last month has been for me. Finally, things seem to be coming together and may turn out to be better than ever.

I have been in and out of rental cars ever since my beloved Jetta VR6 was totaled a month ago. I tried to purchase a modest Honda Civic in order to pay off some bills and save up for the car I really want (for a reminder: scroll down and read my post when I bought that cursed Honda). Anyone who knows me though, knows that that car and I were never a match. The fates were not about to allow that car to stay mine for long. It turned out to be a total mechanical nightmare and I returned the lemon to the original owners (who thankfully completely understood and cooperated...there are still good people out there).

After that adventure, I've decided the extra cost of a nice car with a warranty and the dealer markup is worth the peace of mind. I found the car I wanted, pictured above, and my friend Brad helped me look it over and gave me advice on how to negotiate a killer deal. The car is so nice that I wonder if I'll be able to easily give it up for the next one (which I hope to do by the end of the year).

The car is a 20th Anniversary Edition VW GTI Turbo 6speed with factory-installed Recaro racing seats, black and red-trimmed seatbelts, aluminum trim on the door panels/pedals/dashboard, surf rack, 18" alloy wheels, and sunroof. When I start the car, it has a low growl that tells you there is a monster under the hood usually only found in bigger cars. I love to catch the suprised and bewildered look on unsuspecting passengers' faces when hear it start for the first time. And when the sweet whine of the turbo kicks in, the only thing that'll wipe the smile off your face is the way the car whips your head back into the racing seats. The car accelerates so effortlessly that it's scary- I have to make a conscious effort not to drive double the speed limit because the car seems to have unlimited power. And let me tell you how beautiful it was when I realized that I kept stopping at fifth gear (out of habit from my Jetta) and the car still had a sixth gear to give! Down-shift and go! Bam! The car just rocketed off as if to say "ha, NOW you're driving". Sitting in 6th gear I can be driving at 65mph and doing less than 3,000 RPMs (red-lines at about 6,500) you can practically hear turbo- capable of so much more- yawning with boredom!

It was only then- at that point when I am flying down the freeway with my engine working as hard as most cars engines need to simply idle in a grocery store parking lot- that I remembered that I've encountered this type of car before. Last fall, when I was in Germany, some friends and I road-tripped from Mannheim to Hamburg (an 6-8 hour drive on the autobahn). Chad and I were his brand new Audi A4, and our two other friends were in their GTI Turbo (however I don't know if theirs was the 20th Anniversary edition). Our A4, as sporty and capable as it was, was no match for the GTI Turbo. The GTI Turbo could cross an entire intersection before we could cross the crosswalk in front of us. The GTI Turbo could be going 90mph, hit the gas, and within 3-4 seconds be doing 135mph. Impressive on the autobahn, it's a force to be reckoned with on American roads.

My first car was white (stays clean but boring). My second car was black (hot- both literally and figuratively and impossible to keep clean). My third car was silver (a great happy medium that is way too common these days). I don't think I'll ever go back to one of those colors again. Driving this shockingly yellow car down the freeway, everyone else seems so boring in their lemming-style cars. I love this car!

My roomate, Mike, calls it my little German rally car! Ha! He's right- but don't tell my insurance company that!

Sunset Junction Festival

2007-08-19T19:13:00.000+02:00

The weekend of Aug 17-18th was the annual Sunset Junction in Silver Lake (between Hollywood and downtown LA where Santa Monica Blvd crosses Sunset Blvd). The music festival is a truly unique experience and is a fun example of just how diverse the human family is. Hippies, skaters, surfers, working professionals, homos, heteros, old people, and kids all get together to listen to the street festival's many music groups. Hot Hot Heat and The Echo were the headliner bands but there were also Jamaican and African bands. My favorite show was a Salsa show where they demonsrated the difference between the salsa beats of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Columbia, Panama, Mexico, and Spain.

2nd Place: Veloce

2007-08-16T18:51:00.000+02:00

Note: Video isn't working. Will try to fix later. Stay tuned.

My sailing team has been doing really well lately. On August 15th, we took 2nd place and this video above shows me accepting the award on behalf of the team. Our skipper, John Heaney makes sure that everyone on the team has such an opportunity whenever we place. Since we started racing (weekly) in April, I would guess we have won approximately two first places, 3-4 second places, and 3-4 third places out of a fleet of (generally 9-15 boats). My friend Bill Tan- who introduced me to sailing- shot the clip. At one point I pose, thinking he's going to take a photo. Sitting next to me is my friend Nick who I got addicted to sailing much as Bill did me. It's a contagiously fun sport! The summer Sunset Series we do every Wednesday evening ends in a few weeks but we will still be going out a weekend or two to keep our skills polished over the winter. The next big regatta are the Nationals right here in Marina del Rey, California, August 23-25.

California Slips Farther Into the Pacific Ocean

2007-08-10T02:22:00.000+02:00

The epicenter of the earthquake was in Chatsworth, located 29 miles or about 35 minutes north of me. For your reference, I live in Santa Monica where Interstate 10 meets Highway 1 (the Pacific Coast Highway or PCH).

Los Angeleans were given a rude awakening this morning at 1AM. A 4.5-magnitude earthquake rippled through the city. It wasn't much- I heard the rumbling more than I felt it. It only lasted a few seconds and at first I thought someone had knocked on my door really loudly. I heard a wobbly bookcase noisly rock back and forth and a couple of photos fell off their shelf. I knew it was an earthquake when friends all over the city texted me asking me "Did you feel that?"

We are fortunate because a 4.5 earthquake is as strong as you can get without causing damage. For us living in earthquake country, it is a good reminder to always be aware and careful. The last major earthquake in LA was 1994's 6.7-magnitude Northridge earthquake (Northridge is near Chatsworth where this one happened) which killed 61 people and caused $40 billion in damage.

My "New" Car

2007-08-06T22:54:00.001+02:00

If you haven't heard already, the insurance fall-out from the death of my beloved Jetta is turning into quite a mess. Neither of the insurance companies want to accept ANY liability so it will take a few months of arbitration to figure out how things will be when the dust settles. I am still confident my name will be cleared and I will be left with little or none of the liability- the physical evidence supports my claims and the witness who was driving behind the vehicle that collided with mine blaims the Prius driver, too. The only person who blames me was the other driver (of course) and a witness who admits she wasn't quite sure what happened as she saw the accident at 500 feet from the intersection. Plus, everyone knows that the vehicle stopped and attempting to turn left has the greater responsibility to yield when there is oncoming traffic!

Anyway, it will be a few months until I know where how things settle with the insurance companies and I am not quite financially ready to purchase the car I am planning to reward myself with for so many hard years in school. Therefore, I bought with cash a modest but decent car that will get me through the next few months. It is a Civic EX Coupe with lots of extra features like a sunroof and spoiler. It has a lot of miles, but has ran very well for many years. Jennifer, the girl who sold the car to me, bought it from her brother who bought it new and they were able to provide me with all of the maintenance records from when the car was new. It should be a very good interim car until I can get the car I really want...

HINT:

Rest in Peace, Grandpa

2007-08-06T22:05:00.000+02:00

As you can see from these photos, my grandparents were avid fishermen and outdoorsmen. My grandmother loved hummingbirds and my grandpa loved to hunt which is why they have the engravings on their headstone. Last weekend I had to fly back home to Salt Lake for my Grandpa Verl Bosworth's funeral. He died in his sleep at the age of 88 on July 24. He had lived a full life and I believe he was ready to go home and see Grandma Alta Bosworth who passed on to the hereafter a few years ago.

My grandpa was an amazing and inspirational man. He worked hard for his family and I never heard him complain. He always had a sparkle in his eye that only grandpas can have. He taught my entire extended family to appreciate nature and go camping and hunting often. He worked tirelessly for many years at Hill Air Force base as a civilian contractor. During WWII, he helped re-build the carborators for the Enola Gay so that the plane could safely fly in range of Japan and end that war. He had a ring made from one of the leftover nuts of the Enola Gay. He was awareded a post-humanous silver award of service from the Air Force for his heroic efforts.

The later years of his life were spent with his family. I have many fond memories of hiking and fishing with grandpa. After grandma passed away, he was able to do a lot more traveling. My family was able to take him a Hawaiian cruise, an Alaskan salmon-fishing expedition, and a European cruise. For the latter, I was able to meet Grandpa, Aunt Susan, Aunt Debbie, and Uncle Mike in London. We traveled up through the English countryside (getting lost for awhile before I figured out how to program the GPS) to Market Bosworth- the small English village of large historical importance that bears my family name. You can read about that adventure if you scroll way back in this blog. It was an adventure with Grandpa I will carry with me forever. He will be greatly missed.

My Job is Going to Kill Me!

2007-07-20T02:28:00.001+02:00

I like to think of myself as a pretty healthy eater. I start every morning with a banana, orange juice, and a bowl of Total Raisin Bran or something similar. Whenever I get the urge to snack I'll have a power bar, protein shake, a piece of fruit, or a handful of nuts. For dinner, I'll usually grab sushi, whole-grain pasta dishes, or something centered around grilled salmon or chicken breast.

So imagine my shock today when I looked down at my desk garbage can (pictured above) and realized what my at-work diet has become: a Quizno's bag (that contained a french dip steak and cheese sandwhich), cans of Coke, 7-up, Fresca, and Apple Juice, a grapevine, a Mrs. Field's raisin and nut cookie, and a frozen yogurt cup (blackberry yogurt with blueberries on top)! And that's JUST TODAY! Granted, not all of these are completely unhealthy but still.... wow. I discust myself.

Working for creative-strategy think-tank like I do, we have lots of free brain food in the office and it's very tempting to snack while kicking around ideas with your co-workers. I need to watch out or I'm going to loose my skinny-scrawny figure!

Say Hello to (My) iPhone and My Review

2007-07-15T17:11:00.000+02:00

So I went and bought one last week. I could justify it because my old Motorola was broken and I had no contract- plus I have to admit I just wanted one. My overall review is that while the phone isn't perfect (it has some limitations that will make version 2.0 worth the wait if you can hold off) it is definately the world's best phone.

The interface is smooth, clean, and logical. All the phone's data (phone contacts, email contacts, calendars, Google Maps, songs, videos, songs, and music) are all interchangeable and interactive between all the different functions and all that information automatically syncs to your computer so you have a backup of everything. Anywhere I go, anytime I pull out I have to give product demonstrations to the people gawking over my shoulder. I think I burn half of its ample battery time doing demonstrations- Apple should be paying me for this! And when I mean everyone makes comments, I mean everyone: my dentist wanted to see it when I was setting my next appointment in the calendar, even the cops/witnesses wanted to see it when I was taking pictures of my car accident and emailing them to my insurance agent!

Some of my favorite functions: the touch-screen keyboard adapts its configuration for each use (so on the email template it has a button that automatically fills in ".com", it has hot buttons that automatically tell me the times/temperatures for my favorite cities (just flick your finger across the screen the flip between city reports, another hot button tells me the performance of my favorite stocks, and another shows me the latest and greatest from YouTube. Also the Visual Voicemail is a breakthrough- I no longer call a phone number press option keys to check my Voicemail. The phone automatically lists for me who left a message for me and I can listen to any voicemail in any order and rewind and fast forward it like I would a DVD. Other buttons allow me to add/view the person's contact information, call them back, or delete it. Plus being able to flip the screen and watch high-resolution widescreen video anywhere is just plain cool!

The phone has some serious limitations however that I am hoping to be resolved for those who are patient enough to wait for 2.0. First of all, you can't send multimedia texts- if you want to send someone a photo, video, or song you have to email it to them. Second, I don't think it is possible to send the same text to multiple people- you have to retype it for each person which makes group-invites really difficult. This is probably the thing I hate most about my phone (I know, I'm such a Hollywood socialite huh?) so if anyone knows how to do this PLEASE tell me! Finally, being Apple, the iPhone should have a video camera, not just a photo camera! Hello, iPhone, aren't we going to be video calling in five years!?

When all is said and done, though, as I said- this is definately, by far, the world's best phone!

Car Accident: The Death of My Beloved Jetta

2007-07-13T09:17:00.000+02:00

The actual damage is worse than it looks. The collision buckled the frame of the car- the windshield is cracked in the upper driver's side (opposite the point of impact) and the dashboard is so bent up the front vents/speakers popped out of their casings. This was the 2007 Toyota Prius that cut in front of me and paid the ultimate price. Both cars had to be towed away from the scene and almost surely will be total losses.

First of all, thank goodness, aside from a minor airbag burn I am fine. My car, however, is not.

I was driving straight south when a light a short distance ahead of me turned yellow. A dark-colored SUV in the left-turn lane facing me gunned in front of me as we both tried to clear the intersection. The SUV was able to barely get past me and I would have made it through the intersection just fine except for the black Prius behind the SUV. The driver in that car, without checking the intersection, followed close behind the SUV's sharp left turn. I hit the Prius almost at full speed. It's almost definately his fault and the cars are both most likely totaled. I am really upset because I loved my Jetta and wasn't ready to buy a new one until October or November. It's more complicated than that but no one wants to read the details about that sort of stuff.

The biggest irony of all was that the only reason I was on that side of town was because I was doing a good deed! I had just got in my car after picking up a few things at the grocery store for a dinner at my friend Bill's place. I heard a old woman nearby say "Exuse me, sir." She had bought more groceries than she had planned on purchasing and they were very heavy for her arthritic hands. She had no car and didn't want to wait for the bus while her groceries spoiled. I offered to give her a ride to her place which was opposite of the way I needed to go and about ten minutes away- even though I was already late for Bill's dinner! I drove her to her home and she thanked me saying that good things come to angels like me. Five minutes later, on the way back to my side of town, my car was wrecked. So much for karma...

First Week of Work!

2007-07-01T21:37:00.000+02:00

The Seven Dwarfs hold up Walt Disney Company's Headquarters because with the success of Snow White they were able to buy the land for where the studio is. "I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse".

-Walt Disney

I just finished my first week working at the Magic Kingdom and I think I am going to love this job! The people I work with are really cool and fun! I've already become buddy-buddy with people not only from our (main) North Hollywood office but also visiting co-workers from our Chicago and New York offices. Everyone has been really excited and welcoming. The work itself is also very fun- I spend half my time surfing the net and dreaming up internet games for our advertising partners! We have half-day Fridays, fantastic benefits, and can wear jeans to work if we want.

The transition to the working world hasn't been nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. My surf sessions kept me in the habit of waking up early and now it feels good to be part of something bigger than myself!

The first day of work we had the opportunity of touring the Disney Studio Lot. It is a really cool experience that I would recommend everyone do at some point. Walt Disney Pictures is the only major studio to have its headquarters on its studio lot. The original animation buildings where it all started were transplanted on location and the studio has been landscaped with beautiful trees and grass- also unheard of at a lot. One topary is shaped like Mickey- right at the intersection of Mickey Avenue and Dopey Rd. That's also known as Pluto's corner where there is a fire hydrant and three (yes, only three) paw prints in the cement next to it! We saw the buildings where they have shot Pirates and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, etc... they're all much smaller than you would think. The whole lot feels very much like Disneyland- and was designed to do so. Even the squirrels feel creepily Disney-esque: the squirrels were happily hopping with in (no exaggeration) two feet of my feet- they weren't running away or freezing with fright- it was as if they were a domesticated pet with absolutely no fear of humans whatsoever!

Yours Truly: The Latest American Crew Model

2007-07-01T21:04:00.000+02:00

I am still waiting for the photographer to send me photos of the new do!

You never know where life is going to take you. Only minutes after walking in the door from the weekend trip to Huntington and Laguna Beach, I got a frantic call from my actor-model friend Josh. Apparently he was doing a gig for American Crew and they were one model short. He asked if I could drop everything and be a hair styling model for a show they were doing across town in West Hollywood in two hours. Of course I was game for something crazy like that- who couldn't pass up being PAID to have a great haircut and getting lots of free product (plus getting all that attention, haha)! So I jumped in the car and raced over in my fresh-from-the-beach flip flops, board shorts, t-shirt, and surfer hair. Oops- Josh forgot to tell me the dress code: dark slacks, dress shoes, and t-shirt! I arrived and the British stylist absolutely loved my hair and speed at getting to the show. The model coordinator called his boyfriend to bring some slacks I could fit.

I'll admit that I was a bit worried what crazy style I would end up with on the eve of my first day of work at Disney! And considering that I was going to be on stage while they cut my hair as part of a special feature of the show I wouldn't have the ability to protest if they did something drastic!

It all turned out really well though- I got this really innovative cut where it is still long but a couple inches longer on one side than the other. The short side tucks behind my ear, the long side hangs over my eyes to my lips, and the back (finally) is cut so as to NOT look like a man-bob! haha At the end of the evening many stylists were requesting to photograph me so they could remember the look and I was even getting compliments from the other models! So far it's been quite the hit at parties and events! I'm definately loving it!

At the Upright Caberet Show

2007-07-01T20:45:00.000+02:00

Jessica, visiting from NY- mid-chew. haha (She's going to hate me for this!) Billy- always the poser Joe- my pro surfer mentor- and I Evan and I

Joe took some friends and I for a real treat the Upright Cabaret Show in a swank restaurant in West Hollywod. If any of you have never been to a Cabaret Show you should definately go! They are a real treat! It's amazing how many talented singers are out there in this world!

SURFING WITH DOLPHINS AT HUNTINGTON BEACH

2007-07-01T20:42:00.000+02:00

Note: This is a file photo. I don't have a underwater camera!

Sunday morning Joe and I went surfing in Huntington Beach, officially designated by the US Patent Office as "Surf City USA". The surf was pretty good and we got a lot of good runs in just north of the pier. Usually in Southern California I see a pod of three or four dolphins at least every other time I go out on the water. Today, however, I saw over 30 dolphins! It’s hard to guess their numbers honestly because they may have just been swimming back and forth playing with us surfers but there were certainly a lot of them. Any time I would look around I would see dolphins surfing the waves with us. One time the dolphins seemed to be racing each other- they were swimming 20-30mph (35-65kph) just beneath the surface. In fact, they swam right underneath us- I could feel them touching my feet! It was so cool to be so close to them!

Fast Times at Laguna Beach High

2007-07-01T20:38:00.000+02:00

After the art show, Joe and I went back to his house in south Laguna where one of his neighbors was having a high school graduation party for his beautiful daughter, Leslie. Actually her name isn’t really Leslie but I’m going to call her that to protect her identity. You see, she spent over a year on that popular MTV show: Laguna Beach. And yes, life in Laguna is just like the show has you to believe.

Some people are simply too rich and allow their kids too much freedom. We went over to say hi to the neighbors. Dad, an executive in the skater-surfer apparel industry, was in the front living room entertaining other parents. Mom was in the back partying with Leslie. They had fully catered party with over twenty tables covered with piles of expensive fruits, wines, and cheeses. The recently graduated teenagers were all dancing to the neighborhood-thumping beat of a DJ spinning on the second floor balcony. All the kids were plastered, running around with bottles of beer and vodka in the hands. Alcohol always seems to be more fun when it’s illegal for to drink it! Needless to say, Joe and I took off before we’d be implicated in contributing to the delinquency of an entire graduating class! Haha

Art Show in Laguna Beach

2007-07-01T20:26:00.000+02:00

My friend Joe and I went down to Laguna Beach for the an art exhibit celebrating Rick Griffins- the famous surf-artist that did a lot of stuff for Jimmi Hendrix, Quiksilver, and Surfer Magazine. His art is definitely drug inspired (he was one of the leaders of the Haight-Ashbury psychedelic anti-war movement) but he had an interesting change in his art when he was a born again Christian. His art definitely needs to be seen in person to be appreciated- the colors and details are so vivid in real life. It was really cool hanging with a bunch of old school hippies and surfers. My favorite was this old woman in a walker with flowing multi-colored almost-see-through folds of fabric wrapped around her body. The 60s will never die!

WATER CAN'T RESIST ME

2007-06-22T03:52:00.000+02:00

ABOVE: Josh, Jeff (background), and Ryan on deck ABOVE: Trina, Tarek, Ida, and Joe on deck ABOVE: Bill, Trina, Ida, & Tarek on deck. Yesterday was Wednesday and as any of my good friends know Wednesday summer nights are all about the Sunset Series Regattas that I do. Ever since my friend Bill brought me into sailing I have been introducing many other friends to the sport. Yesterday we had a record 14 people on the boat (we need a minimum crew of seven, average of ten, and the previous maximum was 13)! It was a rare event when everyone who said they would be there made it (sometimes the atrocious LA traffic keeps people from getting to the marina on time) plus we had a few last-minute but very welcome additions. It actually worked out to our benefit though: winds were above 15 knots (translation: 4 to 6 foot (about 1 meter) high white-capped waves). With all the weight in the boat we were able to keep an even keel and were able to plough through the rough seas at a decent pace. We ended up taking second place in the regatta!

I worked foredeck (the bow were a lot of the action is) and was actually the front person when we were sitting on the rails of the boat which meant that I caught the full force of every wave that splashed up on deck (everyone else has someone to their right blocking some of the water)- I WAS SOAKED ALL THE WAY THROUGH MY CLOTHES TO THE SKIN! Everyone on board was laughing and saying I looked like a drowned rat! The water-attraction didn't stop after the race. When the skipper went to hose off the boat he didn't see where he was spraying and hosed me, too! Then, at the yacht club my friend Joe poured himself a glass of ice water and when the ice in the pitcher shifted forward it sent a volley of ice water into my lap. I couldn't stay dry last night to save my life!

MTV Pilot in My New Bedroom

2007-06-21T19:38:00.000+02:00

The funny thing about LA is that at some point in time virtually every portion of the city has been filmed as a scene in some movie or TV show. I can't tell you how many times I recognize places I eat, hang out, or drive through while watching the movies and TV shows people see all over world. I know my car is the background of something because one day when I was driving on Santa Monica Boulevard I was passed by a truck with a huge cinema camera pointed at the car behind it: a purple Lamborghini. Even the laundramat I go to on Main Street Santa Monica has been in a couple of shows/movies!

Well, now my own bedroom has joined the long list of filmed locations! My actor-model-whatever friend Josh filmed an MTV pilot at my apartment. The show is a body/room makeover show developed for college-age kids. The filming took several hours and my house was full of people and gear. My friend Phu redecorated the place to look like a girl's room. I actually picked up a few decorating tips from her as you can see during the before-during-and-after shots. Finally, my friend Michael helped me make my room more feng-shui friendly.

ABOVE: My sad bedroom, before the shoot. ABOVE: My sad bedroom, before the shoot.

DURING THE SHOOT: ABOVE: The girls and I chilling in the living room- Note my new Espresso Faux Suede Love Sac in the background! It's so comfortable! ABOVE: Josh and the girls chilling on the bed ABOVE: Phu and the lighting/sound guys work on set design ABOVE: Cameras are scattered across a bed I don't even recognize as my own. ABOVE: Phu does Nicki's makeup while the camera guy works on lighting.

AFTER THE PILOT: ABOVE: The A-frame shelf now has a cascade of boxes with all my personal effects in them: watches, necklaces, bracelets, etc. It's functional yet still has good form: a solid win-win for the capricorn that I am. :-) I'm still waiting on a shoe rack to arrive at which point those shoes will all be much better organized. (And yes, I realize that I have a lot of shoes but half of them don't count because they are flip-flops!) ABOVE: I made my stone globe the centerpiece on my chest of drawers and brought my custom-framed oil painting from/of Paris above to make things really pop. ABOVE: The New Bedroom features candles and grass accents on the headboard, added more photos of friends and family in the relationships corner of my room (per feng shui), and put my diplomas over them. I added the orchid to bring some life into the room and ground the diplomas and it was a bonus that the plant's colors complimented my gold, purple, and green honor cords from college. I'm still searching for a lightweight, colorful bedspread more appropriate for summer than this heavy brown thing...

I HAVE A JOB!!!

2007-06-12T13:40:00.000+02:00

Today I accepted an offer with Disney Online in Marketing and Promotions. I am very excited about the job because it is both creative (like my advertising experience was) and strategic (as my recent MBA affords me). Plus it's heavily oriented towards branding since I work almost exclusively with large brand-conscious firms that wish to be associated with Disney brand and finding a way that the two can promote each other through common goals and activities. The office is located in a brand new high tech office space in North Hollywood, California, and I work with some amazing people. My team is small but very nice. I have a feeling that we will be able to accomplish a lot together.

So You Think You Can Dance?

2007-06-12T13:28:00.000+02:00

Today some friends and I went to the taping of "So You Think You Can Dance?" at the CBS lot (the same place where they film "The Price is RIght." For those of you who don't live in the USA (or are completely out of touch with pop culture), the show is a reality dancing contest where they take the best dancers they can find (mostly from the USA although some contestants have come from Russia, China, and England) from many different forms of performing arts: hip hop, break dancers, ballroom dancers, free-style, etc. They then put the contestants in solo, partnered, and group dance numbers where they are expected to show their abilities across ALL genres of dancing: waltzes, acid jazz, disco, hip-hop, etc. It's really amazing to see how many beautiful choreographies they can create!

Anyway, being there for the taping of the show was quite a different experience. Unlike "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" which is a delayed live-broadcast, "So You Think You can Dance is mostly a recorded & edited event so therefore we had to do a lot of takes of various lines. Plus, they would have times where we as an audience were asked to act as well: cheering or boo-ing when in fact no one was on stage, etc. It makes you wonder how much reality is left in reality television. What thing I can say is real: those dancers really know there stuff! Check out the show broadcasting this Wednesday and you will likely see my friends and I as we happened to be placed right next the to stage where the contestants leave the dancefloor so there were lots of shots of us congradulating the performers.

San Onofre: Spring 2007

2007-06-12T13:07:00.000+02:00

The weekend before last was the second annual (and soon to become semi-annual due to its popularity) San Onofre surfing camping trip. San Onofre is a spectacular beach between Los Angeles and San Diego (and more specifically Laguna Beach and Oceanside) with campsites on clifftops above a beautiful stretch of beach and a great surf break. At the busiest night we had 19 people there crowded around the campfire for good times. Below are some of the photos from the event. BELOW: The grill was so rusted out that Nick and I had to put aluminum foil over the grates before we could imagine cooking on them. Aluminum foil later turned out to be equivalent to duct tape for our trip... we used it to make up for lots of missing supplies. BELOW: (l-r) Me, Rene, Michael, and Nick chilling by the campfire. BELOW: Brian Bidell, my roomate Mike, and his girlfriend Sharon chilling in front of the fire. BELOW: Vincent, Nick, Marc, Rene and Mario chilling by the fire. BELOW: Vincent and Bobby gave up on smores and decided to dip strawberries in the chocolate melting in our make-shift aluminium foil fondue pot: an instant hit!

Surfing with Joe; Sailing with Bill

2007-06-11T20:40:00.000+02:00

Since I've had a lot of free time since graduating I have been working a lot on my sailing and surfing skills...which is great because they are great ways to have a lot of fun playing in the water, staying in shape, and cost me relatively little money! For both sports I have two of the greatest mentors ever...my friends Bill and Joe.

My friend Bill and I are part of the crew for the Wednesday evening races I've written about here occasionally. He's a writer for comedy sit-coms here in Hollywood. The pic below shows Bill on the Veloce watching the spinnaker sheet which I am helping him adjust.

Meanwhile my friend Joe is a die-hard old-school surfer who has been helping me improve my surfing skills. Bill's a lawyer by trade but a surfer and photographer by passion. You can check out his work at www.joemelchionephotography.com. He's got some great landscapes, underwater photos, urban life, and a fantastic anti-war demonstration he was a part of back in the 1960's that is very relevant in today's political climate. Check it out! Below is a pic of Joe chilling at our recent surf-camping trip.

A Weekend in California: Volleyball Tournaments, Cemetary Screenings, & Fashion Shows

2007-05-26T19:24:00.000+02:00

My close friends know that I like to keep life interesting. I hate routine and always jump at the chance to do something new and/or unexpected. The last few weeks have been very exciting. My friends and I went to the NATIONAL VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS in Hermosa Beach (about 15 minutes south of Santa Monica) to watch people with God-like bodies play.

We also went to a FASHION SHOW put on by my friends Mario, Phu, and Josh in Hollywood. Still trying to get photos for that stay tuned.

And lately we have gone to quite a few CEMETARY SCREENINGS at the Hollywood Forever Cemetary. Every Saturday night during the summer the cemetary projects an old-school thriller on to the side of a mosoleum. Hundreds of people, if not thousands lay down blankets on the grass and have picnics in the cemetary while watching the movies. A DJ spins before the movie and it's mostly a word-of-mouth event so it's very underground- no pun intended. It's so surreal but lots of fun... and it always gets to capacity so you have to arrive early. Only in Hollywood would you see a Valet service and "Lot Full" sign out front! The best part is their motto though- "See the movies, below and ABOVE the stars!" The last movie we saw there was Hitchcock's "Vertigo".

"Worldly" Event at San Diego's Museum of Man

2007-05-16T04:17:00.000+02:00

This last Saturday my friend Bill and I road tripped down to San Diego for my buddy Tyler's "Worldly" event hosted by the Museum of Man. The event demonstrated the diversity of human culture through music and performance. Fire jugglers, Chinese martial arts experts, Brazilian and Indian drummers, bossa nova bands, luck lions, kung fu dancers, and many other performers showed their talents to the amazed crowd. Meanwhile, San Diego's finest cateries gave out samples of some of their best foods from around the world: tapas, curry, sushi, etc... Projectors displayed the full spectrum of human diversity on white screens: everything from Swahili warriors to Japanese geishas. It was an event that endulged all the senses! Below are some pictures from the event: Here I pose with one of the Bali dragon kites we were going to hang for the event. Here I am trying to help hang the Bali dragon kites. This red one almost hit the lady on the right on the head because she was ignoring my warnings for her to get out of the way. THE YELLOW DRAGON is hung. You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to hang 30' (10m) kites from a 200' (67m) bell tower using fishing line over a road and through a courtyard! haha And we volunteered for that! Oh well, it was worth free tickets and drinks! THE RED DRAGON HANGS in front of the museum's tower. As the liaison between heaven and earth, the dragon appropriately brings good fortune to the event patrons below. BILL AND I pause to take a photo of ourselves. EVENT PATRONS gather underneath the stars, the screens, the dragons; they listen to the eclectic music, watch the performers, and taste the fine cuisine from around the world. THE BRAZILIAN DRUMMERS march in to kick off the event! BEAUTIFUL DANCERS like this were everywhere. I can't believe how long they can dance so intensely in high heels on cement and still keep a smile! Brazilian and Kung Fu dancers perform to a drum beat DANCERS show their skills in the atrium of an an old chapel in the basement of the museum. SHAWNA SINGS FOR THE AMAZING BOSSA NOVA BAND, BITTER:SWEET. She has one of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard in my life. And she is very nice, too! THIS CHINESE MARTIAL ARTS EXPERT showed his skills with a sword... and then used his head... well, used his head to break a steel bar that is! Ouch. ONE OF TWO CHINESE LUCK LIONS danced to the beat set by Brazilian drummers as kung fu artists practiced their skills between them. UNUSUAL MUSICAL COMBINATIONS such as this were the mode du jour at the event. THE FIRE JUGGLERS show their stuff with torches, one standing over the other. Bill shows us his stuff with slow-shutter speed settings. THE MAN OF THE HOUR: My buddy Tyler, Director of Special Events flanked by the two (hot, pun intended) fire dancers, and Gage, one of the event's other organizers.

I STILL NEED A JOB!

2007-05-10T21:37:00.000+02:00

OK, so I'm about ready to hit the one-month anniversary of my graduation from Pepperdine's MBA program and I still haven't found work yet.

Granted- (1) businesses generally take their time to carefully select people for MBA-level positions and (2) this will probably be the most difficult job of my life to find because I'm overeducated (and saddled with too much student debt) to get an entry-level position however I don't yet have the experience yet of a veteren professional. Once I get this first gig I should be set for life.... and I will make sure I take care of my friends as well....

so it's in your interest to help me find some work!

If you know of any companies (especially in SoCal within 45 minutes of the ocean) that are currently needing a fun, hard-working strategic marketing/branding guru, please let me know! Thanks!!!!

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS...

2007-05-09T19:04:00.000+02:00

MUSIC

Last Friday I went to the MxPx concert in Hollywood. We had a great time singing along and were introduced to some quite promising opening bands: Hawk Nelson & Classic Crime. The song in the video above is MxPx's "Wrecking Hotel Rooms" however my favorite songs by them are "I'm OK, You're OK"; "First Day of the Rest of Our Lives", "Responsibility", "Punk Rawk Show", "You Make Me, Me", and "One Step Closer to Life". They're worth checking out- they're a rare sight in the modern music industry: a punk/rock group that doesn't swear, actually has inspiring messages in their lyrics, but somehow remains cool and fun.

SURFING

Yes, it's another picture of my wounded face- but this time it's much happier than the time when I was assaulted in downtown LA. Even though it's just a scratch it's significant because this wound is my first board bite. My friend Nick and I went surfing over at Sunset.

It was a perfect longboarding day: knee-high waves were rolling in at a nice steady pace (any higher or faster and aggressive territorial short-boarders descend on the surf. They carve up and down the face of the wave so only one person can take a wave at a time. Meanwhile, long-boarders just ride the wave already in, having a total zen experience with nature, and can share the wave with as many long-boards as can line up along the face). Nick and I were able to catch a few waves, including one that we rode together on, which was fun.

Just as we were finishing up I stopped paying attention and my board caught a wave at an odd angle, flipped up, and the rail (side of the board) gave me a kiss on the nose. Sure, I've gotten scratched up by underwater rocks before but this was the first time I'd been clipped by my board. I was so proud of my first battle wound...especially when I could march my bleeding face and saltwater hair past some dudes setting up to film some surf movie on our beach. haha

SAILING

Once again, in lieu of my own comments, I am letting the skipper tell the story of last Wednesday's race:

TO THE CREW OF THE GOOD SHIP VELOCE:

Congratulations to everyone for the Third Place Trophy last week. It was our first trophy for 2007, and well deserved. Everyone give themselves a pat on the back.

We had 10 people on board and, with winds in excess of 20 knots, we were thankful for every bit of weight on the rail we could get. We got a decent start and, with our No. 3 up, held our own in conditions we seldom see in Marina Del Rey, including some really monster waves. The Mumm 30 (Ray Mahaffey at the helm with Tom Lewick calling tactics for him) lead the fleet to the weather mark and was untouchable downwind. So the battle for 2nd through 4th place was left to three Schock 35s: us, PowerPlay and Perfect Circle. (The Schock 35 Twister was also out, but was not a contender). We were in fourth at the weather mark, but a good set by our foredeck crew (Jeff, Miriam and Spiro) put us right on Perfect Circle's transom for the downwind run and only about ten boatlengths behind PowerPlay.

It was a surfing contest with speeds between 7 and 9 knots. A lot of fun. We caught and passed Perfect Circle and were overlapped with PowerPlay coming into the breakwater. Unfortunately, they had the inside advantage, rounded just ahead of us, and, despite our valiant efforts (and good crew work) down the channel, we finished on their transom -- just six seconds back. (Perfect Circle had problems with their spinnaker at the breakwater and finish well behind.)

The important thing is not the beer glass we got for third place but the fact that we sailed well. Our start was good, our upwind tacks were fast, and our spinnaker work at both ends was superb -- all that in conditions more typical of Cabrillo Beach than Marina Del Rey. Good job by everyone!

-John

Spontaneous Trip to San Diego

2007-05-01T18:04:00.000+02:00

One of San Diego's most famous landmarks is the Museum of Man in Balboa Park, built in 1912 in a Spanish colonial style. An event celebrating modern African music at the Museum of Man in San Diego's Balboa Park. There were lots of neat food, dancing, and costumes! Kade, me, Tyler, & Rory chilling out at Urban Moe's in the Hillcrest District.

So I decided, last minute, to drop everything and go down to San Diego.

-I decided to do so because:

-I have a lot of friends down there.

-I haven't seen them since I got back from Germany this Christmas.

-One of them was an old buddy I haven't seen since High School.

-A huge swell had brought huge surf down to San Diego and the OC (Orange County, which sits between LA and SD)

- I don't have any money since I don't have a job so I can't afford to go anywhere else.

- And when I do have a job, I won't have any time so I can't afford to wait anymore.

So I grabbed my surfboard and loaded it up in my car and called my friends down there saying, "Hey, I'm coming down! I'll be there in an hour-and-a-half!"

I crashed at my buddy Tyler's place. Tyler is the Special Events Manager at San Diego's Museum of Man. He's putting on cool events like Worldly (http://www.museumofman.org/html/events_worldly.html). So we went and checked out the surf- Ocean Beach had huge, powerful waves but they had no shape, same with Scripps (except in an added bonus the water tasted like crap and kicked my butt), but Sunset Cliffs was nothing but huge lines of overhead, well shaped waves (unfortunately just a bit too big for a board as long as mine given my skill-level).

Despite all that, still had a great time. My buddy Howie came down from LA to get away and kick it with us for a bit, and I was able to see my old friends Kade (old roomate from SLC), Rory (Law Student studying in SD), and Blake (old high school buddy who got married and now lives in Pacific Beach).

We went to a Museum of Man exhibit that celebrated modern African music, went out to some cool San Diego watering holes, and just hung out and enjoyed life. It was a very relaxing getaway... especially knowing that I didn't have any work projects piling up for me back home in LA! haha

VELOCE: First Place?

2007-04-25T19:43:00.000+02:00

This is an email from my skipper regarding the race last week:

TO THE CREW OF THE GOOD SHIP VELOCE:

Last week's race was the best of times and the worst of times. We started out in medium wind with our heavy #1 [sail] up and had plenty of wind to the weather mark. With Charlie's [our sailmaker and professional sailor] help, we were the first to round [the buoy]. Downwind, the wind got increasingly lighter until it was almost drifting conditions. But we were still in first, so we hung in there and managed to stay just ahead of [second-place boat] Powerplay until we got to the breakwater and some semblance of wind returned for our run down the channel. We did well down the channel and finished a good five minutes ahead of any other boat in our class.

That was the best of times. The worst of times came at the club when they posted the results. Apparently, my PHRF certificate was out of date so instead of a rating of 69 [which would have given us the earned first place], I was given the "default" rating of -99 [which when subtracted from our score gave us a fourth place]. Powerplay got the trophy and we all left very frustrated.

But in our hearts we know we sailed well and won the race. So let's try it again this week. Who's on board? Please let me hear from you.

John

Santa Monica Mornings

2007-04-24T19:49:00.000+02:00

I love Santa Monica in the morning! It's a small sleepy beach town compared to nearby Los Angeles but it's home for me. These photos were taken Sunday from where my street (Ocean Park Boulevard) intersects the Pacific Ocean...I hope it gives you a feel for what life is like here. I love how people- and environment-oriented this city is.

LOOKING TOWARDS THE PIER

All day long, people walk, run, skate, and bike along the beach's Front Walk. Many of them take their dogs. In this picture, you are looking north towards the famous Santa Monica Pier with the Malibu hills in the distance. A CHARITY BIKE RACE

Here, a large group of families had gathered for a bike race. The money they collected went towards funding medical research for kids. A BEACH CLEAN UP

Next to the bike race, along the Front Walk, the Surfrider Foundation has set up its Beach Clean Up tent. Here volunteeers pick up gloves and bags and start cleaning up the garbage on the beaches. Once a month, my chapter does a clean up at the beaches in Santa Monica, Venice, and/or Malibu.

A volunteer picks up trash at the beach. Sadly, areas with lots of tourists are usually the worst when it comes to things left on the beach. Local residents are usually pretty good about keeping things clean but of course every beach has stuff wash up on shore from faraway boats and lands. We find all sorts of things from balloons and beach toys to cigarette butts and food/drink packaging. The cigarette butts are discouraging because we find thousands of them despite Santa Monica's "No Smoking" on the beach laws. We also find a lot of styrofoam packaging on the beach. Hopefully that will change soon because this summer it will become illegal for businesses in Santa Monica to use styrofoam packaging anymore.

A cool April morning on the Santa Monica Beach looking south towards Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Sunset Beach, and Long Beach. I love this picture because it has a little bit of everything if you look closely: the famous lifeguard towers, surfers, and beach cleaning crews.

At Ocean Park Blvd and Main Street, just up the road from the beach, a couple arrives at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market early to avoid the crowds. Here you can buy fresh vegetables, baked breads, seafood, and cheeses.

Later in the day, the Farmer's Market is full of families enjoying the fresh food and air. A sign in the foreground alerts you that this is a Zero Waste Zone. Everything used and/or disposed of at the Santa Monica Market must be either recyclable or biodegradable. And it is all recycled or turned into fertilizer for the parks in the city... nothing goes to the landfills! I also learned some interesting facts about the city:

100% of the city's power comes from "green" sources such as solar and wind power;

80% of the city's vehicles are electric, hyrdogren, biodiesel, natural gas, or hybrid powered;

the city's successful recycling program has reduced garbage disposal by 67%;

and the city has the most LEED-certified buildings (built of sustainable materials that reduce energy consumption) per capita in the USA!

OVERALL, THIS HAS REDUCED SANTA MONICA'S GREENHOUSE EMISSIONS TO 1% BELOW 1990 LEVELS! WOO HOO!!! Wow, this, combined with those new anti-styrofoam law, may mean that there is hope for the planet yet! Al Gore would be so proud! Still, there is much left to be done... what is your city doing for its part?

The Life of Brian

Grand Opening of Wokano Restaurant

(Another) Earthquake in LA

Loving My New Office

Meeting the 2008 Men's Water Polo Team

Everything I'm Touching Today Has Turned to $h!t

Busted My Fin At Venice Pier

Thievery Corporation at the Hollywood Bowl

What Kind of Funeral Will You Have?

Fridays on the 405: The Getty Center

"Out There" Movie Premiere

Cal Cup 2008

Rest In Peace, John Altieri

Mother's Day in Malibu

Wednesday Sailing: May 7th

Wednesday Sailing: April 30th

Laguna Beach: Thousand Steps

Fock the Earth Day: April 23rd

Wednesday Sunset Series; April 23rd

Viva Las Vegas!!!

San Francisco: One Day Biz Trip

Wednesday Night Sailing Begins!

Lessons from a Beach Clean Up at Santa Monica Pier

Eatin' Crawfish!

Easter Weekend: Perfect Weather

Want to See What I Do at Work?

What a Stranger Told Me About My Car

The End of Personal Responsibility in America?

One More Reason to Love iPhone: Replacing It

Not Dead Yet

"San Francisco = SF = Super Fierce"...

People in Beverly Hills Don't Eat

Anti-Valentine's Day Parties

LAN Pirate Parties: The New Tupperware

Janet Jackson at Arena

OBAMA vs. CLINTON: The Issues

OBAMA vs. CLINTON: Please comment!

VOTE or Shut Up

Parties, Parties, and Parties

CAPRICORNICATION- The 2nd Annual Combined Birthday Bash of Carlos and Brian

More Surf Pictures for You to Enjoy

The Lady Washington vs. The Hawaiian Chieftain

Christmas in LA LA Land

Epic Surf in California

Business in Seattle

THANKSgiving

Why Doesn't the World Just Share?

Alice in Wonderland Party- Halloween 2007

Reverse 911 Calls- A Reason for Keeping Land Lines?

Living in the Shadow of the Fires

Malibu Fires, Venice Drum Circles

TRAPPED IN AN ELEVATOR!

My Jack O'Lantern for Halloween

Point Break Live!

Does this Happen to Anyone Else or Am I Just on Drugs?

Companies I Love and Hate

Cars #12 and #13

Body Shop Spy Cam Brought to You by Esurance

See! LA *DOES* have Culture (you just have to drive all over town to find it!)

WATER CONTINUES TO FALL FROM THE SKY IN CALIFORNIA (PLEASE SEE OUR EARLIER BROADCAST BELOW)

BRIAN'S BAD "CARMA" CONTINUES

WATER FALLS FROM THE SKY IN CALIFORNIA!

I GOT MY GTI TURBO BACK SO NO MORE DRIVING AROUND LIKE A FREAKING YUPPY! (See Below)

Last Weekend: At the Happiest Place on Earth

Which Car is Mine Again?

King of the Hill: Results

Harris Series Recap

Luau Party: Labor Day 2007

"Veloce" Invited to the King of the Hill Invitational

Heat Wave Bakes Los Angeles: One More Reason to Love Santa Monica

Schock 35 Nationals 2007- Marina del Rey

I Love My Job

My New (Turbo-Charged) Wheels

Sunset Junction Festival

2nd Place: Veloce

California Slips Farther Into the Pacific Ocean

My "New" Car

Rest in Peace, Grandpa

My Job is Going to Kill Me!

Say Hello to (My) iPhone and My Review

See! LA DOES have Culture (you just have to drive all over town to find it!)