Set Phasers to Stun!

So tired... and yet, wide awake.

Sorry I haven't been around for the last few days. As I was explaining to my friend Steve about 90 minutes ago, when I go too long without seeing anyone, I get into a funk and eventually that funk drives away my desire to write. By my calculations, it has been over two weeks since I've had that social interaction...

Thankfully, my good friend Steve was in town today. He was my roommate in college back in 1981 - 1982. We've maintained loose contact over the years, and the past few years have been better as we've stayed in closer contact. He flies for UPS these days and is always jetting about the world. Fortunately, the Ontario airport is a major layover stop so we get to hang out a couple times a year.

I got up at 8 AM this morning— Ugh!— after going to bed at the crack of dawn. Steve picked me up about 10 AM and our first stop was breakfast. Since I don't get to indulge in this spot very often, I picked BC Cafe in Rancho as our breakfast stop. Yum! If you've never been there, it's worth going out of your way for breakfast. (Look for it on the corner of Foothill and Hermosa in Rancho Cucamonga.) Whatever you order, I recommend you get the side of flapjacks as they are four plate-sized flapjacks that are so tasty you can eat them without syrup.

Fighting off food comas, we drove from Rancho out through Pasadena and Burbank to see Vasquez Rocks. Vasquez Rocks is a state park where Hollywood frequently goes for scenic backgrounds. What makes this spot a particular geek magnet is that this is where the episode of Star Trek title "Arena" was filmed. In this episode Kirk fights the Gorn (the big lizard) and defeats him by making an impromptu cannon using sulfur, charcoal, a hollowed reed, and some big ass diamonds. I'll post one picture below, but you can see all of them on my Flickr page.

As it was still early, we drove south into Beverly Hills and stopped at the Museum of Television and Radio, which is now called the Paley Media Center (or something like that). I visited this museum many years ago with Pat and Lisa, and there was a traveling exhibit of Star Trek costumes there at the time. There were no exhibits this time so we just went up to the library and chose some things to watch. Their 'library' consists of 140,000 audio and video clips, including full TV programs, commercials, radio programs, and various clipped together items. For myself, I chose an episode of Moonlighting titled "Atomic Shakespeare", where in Dave and Maddie perform a twist on The Taming of the Shrew. I also chose a televised Friar's Club Roast of Johnny Carson from the 1960's. I watched the roast first and the performers included Alan King, Steve Allen, Ed McMahon, Ed Sullivan, Groucho Marx, Flip Wilson, and Don Rickles. It was hysterical, and I wished that the entire roast had been available, as it had been heavily edited for airing. I was eager to watch the Moonlighting episode afterwards and got it started up when the screen went blank. After a minute I just moved over to Steve's cubicle and watched the end of a Newhart episode with him.

It was shortly before four o'clock when we left the museum and decided to head home. For some reason the navigator took us on surface streets all the way through Wilshire and downtown LA before getting us on a freeway. It was a couple hours before we got to our dinner destination in Upland— Buca di Beppo! We enjoyed a great dinner.

I hope to be in good spirits tomorrow. See you next time!

From the roast mentioned above:

Ed McMahon (at the podium): "I've worked with Johnny for 10 years now. In all that time we've never had a disagreement on screen."

Groucho Marx (offscreen, sitting): "Or a laugh."

EM: "Oh, you sit and now you're funny."

GM: "You should see me when I'm laying down."

I miss my travelogue already— I don't have anything to write about!

The story for the Blizzard contest is not going well. After an initial bout of writing, I haven't been able to find my headspace to keep pushing forward on it. I'm going to try again after finishing this post, but who knows what will happen. The deadline is this coming Sunday so I need to get it finished quickly though...

Over the past few weeks I've gotten several nice replies to the erotic stories that I posted online. Sure, they're just anonymous internet people who have written back, but, on the other hand, they're anonymous internet people who took the time to write back— something that they were under no compulsion at all to do. I didn't get a creepy vibe from any of them either. One reader even claimed to not be gay; he just happen to stumble across one of the stories and found it to be a compelling read. That kind of response is heartening, even if I don't want to be known for writing softcore porn!

On Saturday night I went out to Gamestop at midnight to pick up my new DSi. This is the updated Nintendo DS. (If I hadn't paid for it months ago— when I didn't have to worry about my income so much— there's little chance I would've been able to get one now!) It's a nifty device with several updates that won't really be exploited by developers for some time yet. There are two cameras, one each on the outside and inside, an improved sound system, an external slot for reading SD cards, and internal memory for accessing a new online DS store and downloading titles. It's more like having a mini-Wii in your hand now (without motion sensing). I downloaded the browser software right away (free!) and checked it out. The top screen is a larger view of the page you're looking at, and the lower screen is a close-up of a small portion thereof. You can use the stylus to tap links in the lower screen. Its use seems to be limited, but it's a nice feature to have waiting for that one-time use.

I used the new console as an excuse to launch one of the many RPGs I've collected and not played yet— Dragon Quest IV. Those who know my gaming habits know I've been consumed by Pokémon on my DS since last summer. I started Pokémon Diamond at the end of June. Since then, I've finished the storyline and finished all the unlockable events that I know of. I'm now concerned with filling out my pokédex. I've 'seen' all the pokémon in the game, and I only have 30 more to catch. After that, there are still more things I can do if I choose to. However, it's been fun these past few days to play the RPG instead.

I know, no one reading this gives a shit about Pokémon...

I don't know if I've mentioned that I'll be going to Vegas at the end of the month. My brother bought a nice vacation for himself and his wife, and I assumed it was an anniversary gift of some sort. But, after getting the whole thing arranged, they then turn around and invite family on both sides to join them. I'm looking forward to having a decent hotel room all to myself and a few days of throwing my quarters away on the slot machines. Of course, while I'm there, I won't be throwing away my money as much as I will be trying to win enough to buy a new car.  :-P

My friend Lauri has called twice now while I've been writing this post. She is someone I met while doing stand-up comedy, and she is one of the funniest people I've ever met. Right now she is attending improvisation classes with two different improv theatres and has been making short movies with other friends and on her own. She called me last night to ask me to be in one that she'll be making soon, and I'll be sure to post it someday if it gets finished. In the meantime, here's Lauri as Dan the Man, one of her regular characters:

Single White Wierdo - Dan The Man - watch more funny videos

I guess that's about it for tonight.

Until next time!

"I recently learned something quite interesting about video games. Many young people have developed incredible hand, eye, and brain coordination in playing these games. The air force believes these kids will be our outstanding pilots should they fly our jets."— Ronald Reagan