Sunday, September 30, 2007

Viva Las Vegas turnin' day into night time

Well, I am currently on a 3 hour lay-over in the Las Vegas Airport, awaiting my red-eye flight back to Fort Lauderdale (the pic at left is actually of the Strip as my flight from Orange County taxied to the terminal tonight). And so ends my week in California.

My meeting (that I was in Garden Grove for) went well, and even provided some entertainment (although I only drove past and did not actually go to Disneyland which was 3 blocks away; same with the Crystal Cathedral). The funniest moments of the week both occurred yesterday. The first occurred during the main meeting of the week, which had over 400 people in it and can be rather long and tedious (yesterday consisted of 3.5 hours--which is short). In an (unofficial) effort to cause randomly selected individuals to pay better attention (i.e. it was somewhat created out of boredom), a game called "Lingo Bingo" was developed. The game is a variation of Bingo, where the squares have words/phrases (i.e. "lingo") in them. Players can mark a square if the word is spoken in the meeting by one of the speakers. Sample phrases from this year's cards: "flagship", "initiative", "game plan", "war chest" and "nailing jello to a tree". It is this last one that caused the first funny moment...

Now, it has happened in the past that a speaker at the meeting has purposely stated words/phrases on the cards; and been fairly blatant that they were doing so. In fact, I was even semi-chastised for speaking at the meeting and not "utilizing" some words (which I felt might be cheating in some respects, as at the time, I needed only "utilize" to win). Typically, though, most things on the cards are just highly likely to be said, and come up naturally during the course of the meeting.

On an early inspection of my card, I noticed that the jello phrase was there, and felt I was doomed to have to avoid the square. But, low and behold, towards the end of voting on changes to the rules, the chair of the Rules & Regulations committee (who runs this portion of the meeting) manages to incorporate "nailing jello to a tree" into his description of how the committee's prepares rule proposals for the voting. I almost fell out of my seat when he said it (fire code preventing me from sitting on the floor--my normal spot--this year), and had to keep my laughter quiet. I was highly entertained, particularly when other athlete members seated nearby started asking/questioning whether or not I had prompted the phrase to be said (I didn't).


The second funny moment occurred last night:

A d.j. was brought to the hotel for a dance to occupy the athlete representatives at the meeting (well, mostly the younger/high-school aged reps). The d.j. was playing house music, to which I, for one, couldn't help but start dancing. Apparently, however, it was not what the group wanted to hear, as about 45 minutes into the d.j.'s spinning, as all of them had left the dance floor and the room and were hovering in the hall outside.

At this point, one of the high school girls returned from grabbing her iPod from her room and got it hooked into the d.j.'s system. Within 3 notes of some hip-hop song starting to play, the approximately 30-45 athletes out in the hall picked themselves up off the floor and rushed back into the room and onto the dance floor. And then proceeded to bounce around in sync with one another (but not necessarily with the music) for the remaining hour. The mass influx was almost a stampede.

My take on the whole thing: the house music was too foreign for them--they'd never heard it and therefore didn't know what to do (maybe they didn't know if it was cool?). I was surprised, however, that it didn't make them dance somewhat...


Viva Las Vegas
Viva Las Vegas

Sunday, September 23, 2007

And on a clear day... you can see forever

Or at least to Catalina [at right].

On Saturday when I arrived in Southern California, the air was clear enough to see "Santa Catalina" and San Clemente, two of California's Channel Islands, which doesn't usually happen.

Actually, clarity to see Catalina was good through most of the weekend. I even managed to get a few shots at sunset [below]...

All this, and I got to hang out with my Dad and sister for the weekend.



.

And on a clear day
On that clear day
You can see forever...

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Nothing's gonna change my world, nothing's gonna change my world...


I'm headed back out to California this morning... ahh the fun of early morning flights.



I grabbed a cab to the airport this morning, and in my semi-paranoia about arriving on time, I managed to get to the airport 2 hours before my flight. Things weren't helped by the taxi arriving around 10-15 minutes early (at 5:50 a.m. instead of 6), so I will blame it all on that.

As for the funky picture above, it's of Eddie Izzard and his (small) role in the movie Across the Universe, which I saw last night (helping procrastinate my packing).

In the movie, Izzard plays Mr. Kite, which given how it's presented in the film I thought the song was from the Beatles Yellow Submarine album (it's really from Sgt. Pepper's... though). The movie was nice: I didn't really want/intend to see it, but did enjoy the Beatles-song laden musical (that it is). That Bono has a brief cameo--singing "I am the Walrus"--didn't really hurt either, nor the fact that it reminded me of Fiona Apple's cover of Across....

But anyways, as I mentioned earlier, I'm headed back across the country to California, for the second time this month. And this trip will wind up the month for me (I get back to Florida on October 1; again, really early in the morning--red-eye flights have that tendency). This trip is to attend USA Swimming's annual meeting in Anaheim--well, actually Garden Grove. The meeting is next week, and who knows: given the general low amount of sleep I've gotten at the meeting in the past, I may be dreaming like that Izzard picture above before my return... (jai guru Deva, om)


Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup
They slither wildly as they slip away across the universe

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

I remember when rock was young, me and Susie had so much fun...

Well, actually, I wasn't really around when rock was young. But I do remember earlier this week when I was driving down Federal (a street here in FtL) and Elton John's Crocodile Rock came on the radio. And, thanks to this episode of The Muppet Show, every time I hear the song, I am reminded of the muppet crocodiles in the sketch (video of it here). Ahh... nostalgia.

Speaking of nostalgia, another song that's been stuck in my head of late, L'Accordéoniste by Edith Piaf, led me to find this clip of Piaf singing on the Ed Sullivan Show (a second song called Milord, which I also like). And all this because I saw a movie about Piaf's life this summer...


La... la-la-la-la-la...
La-la-la-la-la... la-la-la-la-la...

Saturday, September 15, 2007

All this aggravation ain't satisfaction in me

At the moment, listening to Elvis is distracting me from crafting a more creative entry (and minus the fact that I completely missed that the Horns football game today is actually in Orlando--against Central Florida). So, instead, a quote for y'all:

“We Americans believe that there’s a solution mystique, that for every problem there’s a solution, and it just ain’t so.... Risk is there. Contingency is a part of human life, and there’s nothing we can do to get rid of all contingency and all risk. What we have to have is the courage to live with a certain degree of uncertainty.”
-John Silber
from "John Silber Gets the Last Word" by Avrel Seale in The Alcalde (the Texas Exes's magazine).
Silber offers further explanation of this idea in this op-ed from the Boston Globe earlier this year.



A little less conversation, a little more action, please
All this aggravation ain't satisfaction in me
A little more bite and a little less bark
A little less fight and a little more spark
Close your mouth and open up your heart and baby satisfy me

Friday, September 14, 2007

Friday night and the lights are low, looking out for a place to go...

The weekend is here... and, actually, this is my one weekend this month that I'll spend in Florida. All other weekends in September will be spent in California. My work event last week in San Diego had me there for the first 2 weeks, and a meeting in Anaheim occupies the last 2 weekends.

So, just one weekend to laze around the place, and maybe clean some stuff up. Oh, and hang out with friends (which I'll be doing tonight). I'm also spending more of this month in California (18 days) than Florida (12 days).

Today's song is also making me ponder watching Muriel's Wedding...

Feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah
You can dance, you can jive
Having the time of your life
See that girl, watch that scene
Diggin' the dancing queen

Monday, September 10, 2007

Hey... this kind of trouble's only just begun...

A long quote from a long book...

'What do you think?' shouted Razumihin, louder than ever, 'you think I am attacking them for talking nonsense? Not a bit! I like them to talk nonsense. That's man's one privilege over all creation. Through error you come to the truth! I am a man because I err! You never reach any truth without making fourteen mistakes and very like a hundred and fourteen. And a fine thing, too, in its way; but we can't even make mistakes on our own account! Talk nonsense, but talk your own nonsense, and I'll kiss you for it. To go wrong in one's own way is better than to go right in someone else's. In the first case you are a man, in the second you're no better than a bird. Truth won't escape you, but life can be cramped. There have been examples. And what are we doing now? In science, development, thought, invention, ideals, aims, liberalism, judgement, experience and everything, everything, everything, we are still in the preparatory class at school. We prefer to live on other people's ideas, it's what we are used to! Am I right, am I right?' cried Razumihin, pressing and shaking the two ladies' hands.

-p.276, Crime and Punishment (Part 3, Book 1)
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
translated by Constance Garnett


(and, yes, I'm still wading through the 721-pager; "crime" has occurred, "punishment" has begun...)


I tell myself too many times:
'Why don't you ever learn to keep your big mouth shut'
That's why it hurts so bad to hear the words
That keep on falling from your mouth
Falling from your mouth

Sunday, September 09, 2007

You just don't argue anymore, you just don't argue, anymore...

[Note: I would've loved to use "Traveling, traveling; leaving logic and reason" from Madonna's Bedtime Story as today's title, but used it March 18, instead.]

"Greetings from American Airlines flight #262, non-stop service from Los Angeles (LAX) to Fort Lauderdale; flight time is approximately 5 hours--"

Er, wait... we've not gotten to that part yet. Instead, just after the plane was boarded, the gate agent (my guess) came on the intercom to let us know that our flight has been delayed until 10:30 p.m. (from 9:10 p.m.) until part of the flight crew can get here.

So, I find myself on the plane, with it sitting at the gate, awaiting a pilot's arrival in an hour-and-a-half (apparently, the pilot didn't know he was flying tonight, and has to drive-in from Las Vegas where he lives--so the rumor goes). Ahhh, the fun of flying.

This makes 2 delays for this trip to San Diego: my bag-soaking 1-hour rain delay in Atlanta on Delta on the way out being the other. These guys are making me appreciate Continental more-and-more with each flight (or at least my luck with them). Although they are playing Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer...

Oh, and from the "Does this make sense" side, the sign pictured [above] was hanging over the Delta check-in desk in the San Diego Commuter Terminal. Amazing, no? I mean, wow! non-stop flights between San Diego (SAN) and L.A.: I'm so happy that they're not stopping during that 40 minute flight, though I guess it wouldn't be terrible to stop in Orange County--it's near my Dad and sister and I am flying there later this month. It does seems kinda counter-productive though: with any stop, one really could drive from San Diego to LAX quicker than flying...

[and in case you're curious, work's annual event went well--particularly with its last full day being yesterday's 09/08/07; it's also nice that it's done...]


My name is Luka
I live on the second floor
I live upstairs from you
Yes I think you've seen me before

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Everything is quiet, since you're not around

Due to being at my work's annual meeting this week, I don't have a plethora of time at the moment (on-site 6 a.m.-9:00 p.m.), but regretfully, I'm compelled to at least note today.

Two of my friends, Alma Striker (a former co-worker) and Harry Pankoski (a close friend of my Dad) both died within the past day/so (I believe both yesterday). Suckie news to get this week...


Everything is quite
Since you're not around
And I live in the numbness now
In the background