Oscars Night

...and the Oscar for youngest new movie star goes to J.J.



...and the Oscar for best kitchen bar design idea goes to Svetla and Neven, for their wall collage of wine corks. This represents many a night of good times:




Oh, yeah, anybody know someone who celebrated their Leap Year birthday today? I can't imagine waiting for 4 years to celebrate my next birthday, but then again, it must be great to feel like you're getting old much slower.

.com Sushi Roll

Downtown San Diego is growing and becoming more and more exciting month after month, week after week. The atmosphere in the Gaslamp Quarter on a Saturday night is stimulating and invigorating. The streets are full of life. The restaurants, bars, cafes and nightclubs are boiling with crowds hungry for fun. Sushi Itto has become one of my favorite places to eat. Mostly because of he food, and in particular because of the delicious "Sabado de Trevi" specialty roll. Yum! "It is so good when it touches your lips." The highlight title of the menu is the ".com roll". I wondered if it had Spam in it.
Twiggs Cafe provided for a relaxing conversation-stimulating atmosphere with some live jazz music, fine java, and lights-sprinkled view of Downtown. Extra points for free Wi-Fi. Double-extra points for that guy coming over and handing Marie a gift certificate for a hairstyle at his Hair Salon up the street.

Scusilo! Scusilo!

Marie and I went to see 50 First Dates. Funny! One movie was not enough, so we also saw Eurotrip. Even funnier!

What Book Are You?

According to The Book Quiz I am "Waiting For Godot" . . . Interesting. That actually IS a favorite of mine.

This Ain't No Fool's Gold

This is the real thing! My good friend Chris put a huge smile on my face and at the same time almost brought me to tears with this incredible gesture of giving me as a present this Stone Roses plaque, autographed by all 4 members of the band.

The back of the plaque has a Certificate of Authenticity ensuring that the signatures are indeed the signatures of John Squire, Mani, Reni and Ian Brown. Chris, you put me in a bind here - how on Earth would I be able to go find you an autographed plaque of Bon Jovi? Thanks, friend! This is one of the nicest, most-thoughtful things anyone's ever done for me!

Mardi Gras

Picked up Marie from the airport, but instead of the usual 10-minute drive home, it took us an hour because of the crowds in Downtown for the Mardi Gras celebrations. Marie fell asleep in the driver seat. I listened to an entire CD. The Gaslamp Quarter was thumping life like a subwoofer. I love the crowds; don't like the hour "drive"

There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

...and one such light is the music, and even more so, the lyrics of The Smiths. I wish they would reform and tour one last time so I can see them live. Maybe the Stone Roses could open for them. Dream on. In the meantime, I would have to settle for a DJ set by the Smiths' own rhythm section, Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke at the Casbah on March 22nd. Yes, I will walk up to them and say "thanks!" for being part of a great band.


Speaking of the Smiths, Marie just gave me this super cool Morrissey calendar, which only has Sundays in it, inspired by the great song "Every Day Is Like Sunday". Dave Conover designed it and put it all together.
Oh, yeah, speaking of the Smiths, I bought some very comfortable Saucony running shoes today, so I might go away running somewhere and not blog anymore. I might even join Jeff for that La Jolla Half Marathon. I wonder if Morrissey could do a half marathon.

"Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head..."

The above is what got caught in my camera lens as I took a look outside my window, and the below is what got caught in my head for most of the day:

"Raindrops keep falling on my head
And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed
Nothin' seems to fit
Those raindrops are falling on my head, they keep falling

So I just did me some talkin' to the sun
And I said I didn't like the way he' got things done
Sleepin' on the job
Those raindrops are falling on my, head they keep falling

But there's one thing I know
The blues he sends to meet me won't defeat me
It won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me

Raindrops keep falling on my head
But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turnin' red
Crying's not for me
Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'

Because I'm free
Nothing's worrying me."
lyrics: Hal David
music: Burt Bacharach

Your Time!

I spotted this funny looking dude at the Princess Pub in Little Italy DJing off the in-house jukebox. Liza, X-ian, JC and I saw him dancing on stage at Karl's Strauss later in the evening.

Airpots, Hotels, Wondermugs

Marie was tired of being in her seat on the plane without even flying; the plane was stuck on the runway for 2 hours before getting clearance for take off. Marie left for France and I will spend the weekend awaiting her return. After dropping her off, I took a picture of this cool plane that hangs suspended from the ceiling of the main lobby of the American Airlines arrivals terminal of the San Diego International Airport.

After work, Stacey, Angie and I had some drinks at the bar of the Double Tree Hotel. Why do I happen to visit an Airport and a Hotel in the same day, when I am not traveling? Maybe it's a sign for me to plan some traveling and try to see more of the world. According to World66, a site that generates a graphic of the map of the world with the countries that a person has visitedand colored in red, I have visited 6% of the countries of the world :

There is so much life out there. So many places. So many Airports. So many Hotels. So may wonders. One such wonder is the Wondermug that Eric and Sandra showed me in their apartment in the evening. I love the creations of science!

RIP

...

I Was Probably Irish In A Previous Life

While waiting for Christian to find his keys(he needs the Sonic Key Finder, I believe), I took a picture of this violent flower, soaking wet with giant droplets of desert rain.

The Ould Sod is loud, crowded, yet comfy -- the perfect destination after a 12-hour work day. Christian introduced me to his friend Christian, so there I was, hanging out with the Christians, drinking(or should I say, "eating") Guinness and talking music. The Hatchet Brothers provided entertainment for inbetween chats.

I think I would love it if I visited Ireland.

The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses was/is one of my favorite bands ever ever ever. I stopped by Chris' house and as a pleasant surprise he put on "I Am the Resurrection", which is one of my favoritest songs of all time! Chris, sorry for not paying attention to you much while the song was on; I lost myself in music. What a cool tune! If you've never heard it, you should buy the first Stone Roses CD, put it in your player, and program track 11 on repeat. Then, rock out! Oh, yeah, pay attention to the lyrics too. They are interesting.
I love the fact that Chris, who loves the likes of Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Def Leppard and Poison, actually went and bought a Stone Roses album only because I've mentioned they are one classic band. Which they really are. Seriously! (I could go on and on and on about the Stone Roses, but this blog is simply not the right place. Or maybe it is. I may do a future entry where I can write about what great impact they have had on me throughout the years.)

The Thrills - Discovered!

I get really excited every time I discover new music that really speaks to me on some level. Enter The Thrills from Ireland. Saw them half-asleep last week on Letterman, I believe, and kinda liked it. Downloaded a few songs this morning and was immediately hooked! Wow! Really dig the melodies and the mood. Marie and I grabbed some breakfast at Perry's Cafe and then headed over to Tower Records. It was interesting to see what the band looks like on the cover of their CD -- it was exactly the way Marie and I imagined them. So I bought the CD and have been listening to it all day! It is so refreshing to hear good new music, even if it is retro sounding. The Thrills are nothing new under the sun. Their sound is very reminiscent of The Beach Boys. Good stuff. So the day unfolds and the music of the thrills is in my car, and at home, and in my head...I listen closer to the lyrics and they sing about going down to San Diego, and how Santa Cruz is not that far, and not to go back to Big Sur (where I'll be camping for Rachel's birthday in March), but that's not all. Marie and I go to SavOn to get some pictures developed, and while waiting in line to pay, I am thumbing through the pages of the Rolling Stone magazine. Second page I flip to has an article on - you guessed it - the Thrills! Hah - now I feel like I'm being stalked! I read on and to my surprise, it turns out that the Thrills spent a summer in Mission Beach, where they wrote the songs for the album. Mission Beach is where I used to spend time with X-ian and Nate writing songs. I get instant memory flashbacks...So I am officially hooked now, and naturally, try to learn a little more about the band. Next thing I discover, it turns out that they will be playing at the Belly Up in Solana Beach on March 18th. Great!...I now definitely have plans for that night. And if that was not enough, they are on the bill to play at Coachella on Sunday, May 2nd. (see complete Coachella Lineup below)

Reunion

What a pleasant surprise! I woke up to read an e-mail from Miro, my sister's classmate from Elementary School, who happens to have moved to live in LA and was in San Diego for the weekend visiting with his wife and daughter. Miro also happens to be the brother of one of my good friends, Yuli, who I grew up with. My sister and Miro had not seen each other for almost 20 years. We all got together and had our long catch-up chat at the Goldfish Point Cafe in La Jolla, then drove up to the top of Mt. Soledad and enjoyed the spectacular view of the San Diego city lights.

JJ was in top shape after a bottle of pink lemonade Snapple. Yo yo yo, you better watch out, Eminem -- here comes the REAL Slim Shady! Word!

Marie, You Can Do It!

Marie showed me the graphic she created for an e-mail blast advertising an AIGA Film Night, and I absolutely love it! Marie, I am proud of you!



In the evening Marie and I had a blast hanging out with Angie, Chris, Stacey, Carol, Tim, and Kaytlan. Angie is a great host! She welcomes you with a series of, oh say 6 or 7 Scooby Snack shots, then entertains and makes you feel comfy the rest of the night. Up the river, down the river..."all whacked on Scooby Snacks" as the Fun Loving Criminals sing it.

Welcome To A 3-Day Weekend

What a joy! Leaving work on a Friday after a long long week of zeros and ones, I was greeted outside by a spectacular sunset and a balloon in the sky, both welcoming me to a 3-day weekend.





In the evening I had a great time hanging out with (of course) Marie, Ken, Jackie, Greg, Leila and her new boyfriend, Mark. Drinks. Chat. Laugh. Welcome to the weekend, proper!

Coachella 2004

Great line-up for this year's Coachella Valley Arts & Music Festival. Yes, I'll be there for sure! And you should be too...

Saturday, May 1
Radiohead *, The Pixies *, Kraftwerk *, Wilco *, The (International) Noise Conspiracy *, The Rapture, Desert Sessions, Hieroglyphics *, Kinky, Stereolab *, Future Sound of London *, ... And you will know us by the Trail of Dead, Peretz, Death Cab for Cutie, Laurent Garnier, LCD Soundsystem, Living Legends, Sander Kleinenberg *, Black Keys, The Sounds, Howie Day, Junior Senior *, Mark Farina, Moving Units, Sahara Hotnights, Electric Six, The Stills, Seb Fontaine, 22-20's *, Juana Molina, Phantom Planet, Dios, Jem, Q and not U, Erase Errata, The Section Quartet, DJ Icon

Sunday, May 2
The Cure *, The Flaming Lips *, Air *, Belle & Sebastian *, Basement Jaxx *, Paul van Dyk, Bright Eyes, Atmosphere, Thursday, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Cursive, Le Tigre, The Crystal Method, Dizzee Rascal, Adam Freeland, Mogwai *, Ash, 2many DJ's, Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra *, Muse, Sidestepper, The Thrills *, Broken Social Scene, The Sleepy Jackson, Ferry Corsten, Prefuse 73, !!!, The Cooper Temple Clause, Sage Francis, T. Raumschmiere, Stellastarr, The Killers, Home Town Hero, The Section Quartet

* Krassy Can See It

SCCFUG Winter 2004 Conference

So I went to the SCCFUG Winter 2004 Conference held at the Holiday Inn in Costa Mesa and got pretty excited about the possibilities of reaching under the hood of ColdFusion and playing with Java. I really liked Nate Weiss's presentation on the topic. He did a great job at presenting all the geeky stuff and at the same time entertaining the audience with a bit of humor sprinkled here and there. Other great topics included Building Web Services, Fusebox 4, and the Mach II Application Architecture presented by Macromedia's own Director of Architecture, Sean Corfield.

On the way back to San Diego, I loved speeding on the 73...then relaxed at Influx at the end of the day. What's with Afri Cola? It's basically Club Cola, or something, in a fancy bottle.

Coconut Milk Soup....Yum Yum

I had two bowls of that delicious coconut milk soup they make at Spices Thai Cafe. I'll be your friend if you could give me the recipe for it, and I'll be your best friend if you prepare it for me! (no, they won't give me the recipe; I've asked)

W Hotel

The W Hotel in San Diego is stylin' big time.



I love it all -- the colors, the designs, the furniture, the jazzy house/lounge music, the video wall, the lights, and even the throw pillows.



Ordered water and the waitress brought us bottles that looked like shampoo bottles. Voss of Norway makes it.

Breakfast Buffet @ The Abbey. BOCCE. Grammys.

The Abbey Cafe offers an excellent breakfast buffet. A slice of cucumber instead of lemon in the water was an interesting twist.

I played Bocce for the first time ever today. I dig it. I think when I am 60 I'll be dressing in all-white and playing in the park every Sunday. I'll save Saturdays for Chess and Cards.



What a gorgeous day! Not nearly as beautiful as my lovely girlfriend, but really -- what a fine day!





In the evening, X-ian really showed some skill throwin' them darts. I liked watching the Grammys with a fun group of people. George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, Prince, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, and the White Stripes were all great. The rest? Well, hum, it was pretty bad. I miss good music.

Fresh Air. Nice Company. Pixels. Music. Food. Speed...I love Saturdays!

Coffee. Chat. Sunshine. Stephane Pompougnac. Friends. Morley Field. Food. Laughs. Movie. Icons. Jimi Hendrix. Missed Barry Diamond, but he'll be back.

All-in

Played Poker. Lost. Had fun anyway. My personal hero of the night was Stacey who went "All-in" on her first hand. Don't ask if she won or lost; just to have the guts to do it is a win in my book. The big loss of the night for me was when prior to going to the Poker Tournament I was driving around Rancho Santa Fe for 2 hours looking for Chris' surprise b-day party and not finding it. Hadn't been bummed out that much in a long long time. I was really looking forward to his Canes-themed surprise party; was even dressed in Canes colors, damn it!

Drink And Drive

This has got to be one of the coolest presents I have ever received. Ever. Karey and Rachel made these awesome Matchbox car martini glasses for Marie and me. I guess they are encouraging us, as Karey put it, to drink and drive without a single worry.

Google University

On average, I probably use Google about 50 times a day. And not just for searching. What do I mean? Have you seen all the cool Google features besides searching? Have you tried typing in something like 25 degrees Celsius in Fahrenheit and then hitting the search button? How about asking Google to tell you what is 6 liters in teaspoons? How about looking up area code 619? Just type in 619 in the search box and hit Google Search! You are not sure what the definition for a "blog" is? Type define blog and ask Google. Google has a sense of humor too. It can even tell you where the WMDs are (of course you've probably tried this one, but if not, go ahead and type "Weapons of Mass Destruction" in the search box and then hit the I'm Feeling Lucky button. One more - Google on miserable failure. And maybe you want to Google in Telugu Language or even in Hacker Language? And then of course, the icing on this cool Google cake is the collection of all the cool Google Logos. Amazing!

On A Rainy Day I Wish I Was Fly Guy

This rainy day today, oh I wish I was fly guy. Loved the rainbow over La Jolla as I was driving up north to go to work. Finished half a bag o'sunflower seeds - I am crackin' them shells faster than ever. I challenge anyone on a sunflower eatin' contest - for speed and/or amount. Any day. Rainy or not!

To Blog Or Not To Blog - That Is The Question

This is my very first post on my brand spankin' new blog. I am now officially a contributor of daily nonsense to the internet. I'll try to make this place exciting for myself and interesting for you, the visitor. Let's have a pretty start, shall we? Here's a picture I took last weekend: