Whatcha gonna do when you get outta jail?

[zrath]

I haven't done a weekend report in a while. Mostly because I haven't done anything interesting of late.
This past weekend was a bit different though.
As mentioned in an earlier post, I attended "Marching Thru History" in Chino, CA, on Saturday.
(Photos of the event are up on my Flickr account.)
My old friend Fritz Bronner tipped me off to this event's existence, as he was planning to attend with his horses
and friends. Fritz runs a non-profit organization called the Warhorse Foundation.
Check his website for more info as well as videos and photos.



Anyway, Chino is a bit of a drive, and I had stuff to do beforehand, so I wound up getting a late start.
As I was crossing Culver City to grab the 405 by way of La Cienega (and avoid all the LAX-bound traffic),
I chanced across a lowrider wedding, complete with adolescents in zoot suits and awesome '40s cars.
To stop or not stop? I was already running late. I wound up stopping and taking pictures of the cars.
Later, I discovered that none of the photos had saved to the memory card. F*CK!!!!
I really need an actual digital camera instead of this old Amp'd Mobile RAZR cellphone with 1 gig Micro-SD card.

After reaching La Cienega, I stopped at the cheapest gas in the West ($3.39/gallon), and filled up.
Then I cruised Southbound and stopped at the bank for cash and at Ralphs for a lunch sammich and drinky.
Then I finally hit the 405 and began my trek in earnest. I took the 105 East almost immediately.
Traffic was smooth until we hit the 710, then it smoothed out again until the 105's bitter end: the 605.
I jumped on the 605 Southbound and promptly grabbed the 91 Eastbound.
I skirted the Northern edge of the OC (Orange Curtain, Orange County) and passed a bunch of freeways: the 55, the 57...
Things started looking kinda hilly and empty. I passed the 241, apparently a toll road.
Eventually, I hit the 71, the Chino Valley Freeway and took that Northbound.
The "Marching" event was being held at the Prado Regional Park, right off Euclid, which is itself near the 71.
I reached the park at 3pm, and used the free parking pass Fritz had given me (I saved $7! Wooooooh!).
I followed the winding parkways and admired the scenery. The Prado is a gorgeous place with gently rolling hills and
numerous small lakes. There seems to be fishing, and a large RV parking area waaaaaaay in the back.

As I crested another hill, I was starting to wonder if the event was actually taking place, and I almost immediately
saw a large encampment of US Civil War era tents. As I followed the signs toward the parking areas, I saw everything
from US Revolutionary War to Vietnam era encampments and vehicles. Lots and lots of Jeeps and trucks. Even tanks.
I couldn't wait to get out there and eyeball these beauties! I finally reached the parking area, and noticed some
familiar-looking horses and riders drilling in one of the open areas, so I parked and went off to investigate.
Turns out it was indeed Fritz and the gang and you know what he did?
He handed me a camcorder and put me to work as his videographer! Dude! That's not cool! I just got here!
I was a little irate, but he explained that the horses would be drilling in a different area, and that I had plenty
of time to look at the Jeeps and trucks while they changed uniforms then rode the horses to the new area.
So I went off and took lots of pictures of stuff.
And when the Warhorse Foundation horses showed up, I videoed their routine for a solid 30 minutes.
Fritz's camcorder was okay, but I had problems with the zoom button. It was tiny, sensitive, and counter-intuitive.
The camcorder I owned was a Sony Hi-8 and the zoom control was a rocker switch aligned with the camera. To zoom in,
you pressed on the forward part of the switch, to zoom out on the back part. This made a lot of sense: push forward to
go in, push back to back up. The switch on Fritz's camera was mounted sideways: left to zoom in, right to zoom out.
I did my best with what I was given.

Afterwards the horsing around, I went back to looking at the rest of the displays. A Korean era USMC camp with
a good display of weapons caught my eye. It's funny how the weapons were pretty much all WWII era.
I spotted an M-1 carbine that looked suspiciously like something my dad used to own. His was a .22 though.
I saw a couple of tents apparently belonging to the French Foreign Legion, but no one was there.
I chatted with some Vietnam reenactors and manhandled one of their BARs (Browning Automatic Rifles).
Dude, those things are heavy! No wonder there's a carry handle on top!
There were two tanks participating in the festivities: a sharp-looking Sherman and a smaller Stuart.
The tanks and the halftrack were involved in a US VS Germany WWII combat reenactement.
I captured some of it with photos and they're viewable on the Flickr account (see link upstairs).
Afterwards, I wandered around some more, took more photos, and headed for Fritz's camp. to hang out and chat.
They packed up and left at around 6:00pm, and I left soon after.

I wasn't in a hurry to get home, so I stopped at a Toys'R'Us I had noticed on the way in. I was hoping to spot the
elusive Lego Star Wars "Clone Wars" Droid Gunship, but I came up empty. I got back on the 91 freeway and promptly
ran into heavy traffic caused by an accident, or so the radio said. The radio also said the accident was two exits
away from me, and since the 91 was pretty much the only traffic option in that area, I decided to tough it out.
The accident was cleaned up 10 minutes later and traffic resumed travelling at a high rate of speed.
I was feeling peckish as I entered Fullerton and suddenly remembered that there was a Sonic in the area.
I found it by dead reckoning and it was pretty crowded: all the drive-up slots were occupied.
After parking the Stranger, I walked up to one of the order boards and ordered my food.
This was probably the slowest fast food joint I had been to in the past 5 years.
I eventually got my order and paid for it, and started eating. And I suddenly remembered why I didn't like Sonic.
Everything was mushy and undercooked: tater tots, fries, Texas Toast Cheeseburger, Coney dog.
Well, the meat in the burger was well done, but the wiener in the Coney was undercooked.
And worst of all, the Coke was flat and watery. Sonic still uses styrofoam cups for all their beverages.
Styrofoam is public enemy #1 of carbonation. All the carbonation escapes as soon as the soda meets the cup.
This is irrelevant if you're getting a flat beverage, like coffee or Limeade or milkshake, but it's death to soda.
So yeah, not a big fan of Sonic.

I finished up, got in the truck and headed back to the freeway. And ran into at a dinging railroad crossing.
One of those outrageous mile-long American freight trains was just entering it, so I knew it was gonna be a while.
I turned off my headlights, turned off the engine, and turned the ignition key to "Accessories" so I could keep
bopping to Tom Tom Club's "Genius Of Love" already in progress on Jack FM, with my windows down.
Out of the dozen cars stopped at the crossing, I was the only one who did this. The other zombies just sat there,
lights on, engines running, hands on steering wheels, wasting gas, adding needless wear and tear to their vehicles.
Hmmmmm, whatever, "I'm gonna have some fun!". Jack FM was playing the extended mix of "Genius Of Love" and I swear
to the Fanged God that the song ended at the exact moment that the last freight car crossed the crossing. W00T!!!
Back on the 91, then the 710, which has been redone and is now wider and safer, to the 105, the 405, and home.
Traffic was good and it didn't take too long.



Sunday was the titular "day of rest". I slept in, then did some grocery restocking at Trader Joe's.
I did some stuff on the computer and watched some Season 1 "Smallville" episodes on DVD.
And I actually saw 2 episodes I had somehow missed! One had to do with bees attacking candidates for the school
president election at Smalville High. It also featured a running gag involving people quoting "The Godfather".
The other one dealt with a doodling kid who lost the use of his hands but gained kick-ass telekinesis.
Just your basic "Freak Of The Week" stuff. :D
Also, I recognized a much-younger Aaron Douglas (aka Chief Tyrol from "Battlecar Angstactica") in one episode.
He was playing a Smallville deputy in an episode where Chloe is kidnapped and Lana can see it in visions.
I wonder who else I might recognize when I start watching Season 2 this week.

And that was the weekend that was. The weather was sunny and crisp, with strong winds. It was delightful.

In other news, that Droid Gunship Lego set I was looking for? Never gonna show up at Toys'R'Us.
I just learned it's a Wal-Mart exclusive, and I hate Wal-Mart.
Guess I'll have to order it from LegoShop.com at some point in the future.

And speaking of Legos, we had a LUGOLA meeting scheduled for that Saturday, and nobody showed up!
Members either had things to do, or were too knackered from the Brickwest convention the weekend previous.
I figured nobody would show up, so I went to "Marching Thru History" instead.
There are plans to have a meeting this Saturday and odds are good I will make it.