zrath

So I went to see "Star Trek" on Thursday Night.
I went home after work to change and grab some dinner. My plan to zoom down the 405 to get to The Bridge Cinema Delux
speedily was dashed by bumper to bumper traffic, so I took surface streets instead. I got to the theater with plenty
of time to spare. Besides, since this was an IMAX screening, my seat was reserved.
After parking the (St)Ranger, I meandered over to the Nordstrom Rack near the theater. I once found a pair of strange
Nikes for $10 there, Nikes that looked like they were made of soft-serve ice cream. I still have them.
So I checked the men's shoe section for possible deals and found plenty of shoes my size, though the prices were
not what I was accustomed to pay at Ross. Most of the shoes my size seemed to be Nikes and $49.95 a pair.
Since I usually pay anywhere from $15 to $35 for similar shoes at Ross, I passed.
I went into The Bridge Cinema Delux and walked to the appropriate IMAX screening room. I took my seat and relaxed.
The sound system was playing a medley of Star Trek music: "ST: TNG" (it was played thrice), "ST: First Contact"
(one of my favorites), "ST: DS9" (still sucky), and "ST: Voyager" (also one of my favorites, it's majestic!).
With 10 minutes to go before the 9pm showtime, the screening room looked mostly empty. The room seemed 75% full when
I ordered my ticket online. Looks like everybody was going to show up late. And sure enough, they did. The show didn't
start until 9:15pm, and the theater was 90% full by that time. No trailers, no commercials, right into the movie! :D

IMAX theaters are not really designed for viewing feature-length motion pictures. The center section is roughly
60 seats wide, without a single walkway in the middle. Try as I might I could not contain myself, and at about the
45 minutes mark, I had to GO! Since there's not much in the way of legroom, the 25 or so people between me and the
walkway had to stand up, and I'm sure that every single one of them despised me at that very moment.
When I returned, I did not even bother going back to my original seat. I grabbed an empty one on the D Aisle,
the one with the East/West walkway. Plenty of legroom there! :)
As for the movie itself, it was fun. The casting was pretty good, especially Karl Urban as "Bones" McCoy.
Poor guy's been stuck in mostly crappy mostly mindless actioners, it's nice to see him with something to work with.
Kirk, Uhura, Spock, Chekov, Scotty, Sulu, Pike, good job all around.
However, I have a few words for Mr. J.J. Abrams:
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MAN, PULL THE CAMERA BACK A LITTLE!!!
I don't need to count the razor stubbles on people's faces! And I don't need their chins in my lap!
You may not know this, but traditionally, the filmmakers who have done EXTREME close-ups on actors' and actresses'
faces have done so to hide the fact that there's very little or no set behind them. This was obviously not the case.
Also, I'd like to see the ships clearly! Especially when there's stuff going on like pew-pew-ing and missile-ing.
I couldn't even tell who was firing what from where! Everything was blurry and shot too close.
Yes, you got some good general shots of the Kelvin, the Enterprise and the Vorlon/Shadow/Romulan ship. But I still
don't know what the Vorlon/Shadow/Romulan missiles look like, or what the other Federation ships look like.
It's like "Cloverfield" all over again: there's something cool and exciting over here but no, look at this rock!
I'm in this sci-fi jive for the ships, Mr. Abrams, and you have disappointed me.
Just make sure you move the camera back a tad in the sequel(s).


Friday: went to work, got paid, went to the bank, went to Ralph's for lunch and beverages for home.
Called some people, left messages. Found out from coyoteseven that the annual So-Cal FurBQue was Saturday.
And he found out about it from a friend, so way to advertize the event properly, you FurBQue disorganizers! :D
Went home from work, worked on some eBay stuff, watched "Day The Earth Stood Still" retread. It was not very good.
Stayed online until 3am, then went to bed.

Saturday: SLEPT!!! Got up at 1pm, took care of verious things, then headed down to Orange County for the FurBQue.
The weather was particularly outstanding for a BBQ: sunny, not too warm, with a nice breeze blowing.
I drove all the way down to Orange with the windows down (the FurBQue is held at the Irvine Regional Park, which is
not in Irvine but in Orange. Go figure. It's a public park with a zoo and miniature train ride and stuff.)
I stopped at a Ralphs 5 minutes away from the Park and called doodlesthegreat to check on needed supplies.
Picked up what was needed: ice, burger patties, sliced cheese and a case of bottled water, then went to the Park.
I had no trouble finding the FurBQue, there was a very hard-to-miss purple moose fursuit in attendance.
In addition to Doodles, I also saw Stego, Vircoo, Iron Badger, Ken Pick, Chythar, and the usual gang of idiots.
Burgers and hot dogs and polish sausages and whole corns and pineapples were grilled and consumed.
Ken Tiger brought an assortment of offbeat bottled sodas and I tried a few.
The first one was Sprecher Cherry Cola (bottom of the page), and it was more cherry than cola. I have to admit that
the cherry actually tasted like cherry, not like some bad cherry medicine substitute. Not much cola taste though.
Then I tried some insane banana thing that tasted like every fake banana candy ever. It was GHASTLY!
Finally, I tried a pink soda made by Waialua Soda Works in Hawaii. The label said the drink was "Lilikoi" flavored.
I had no idea what that was, but I tried it anyway. It was exotic and delicious and it reminded me of the tropical
vacations that my parents had taken me on when I was little Kzinten. My taste buds were in ecstasy...
(I looked up "Lilikoi" when I got home that night. Turns out it's passion fruit. No wonder it was so dang tasty!)
Waialua also makes a mango soda and I really wanna try it. I guess a roadtrip to BevMo is in my future.
We stayed in the Park until 8pm and I was one of the last ones to leave, helping with clean-up a bit.
I took the long drive home, traffic was very fluid. Once home, I relaxed with a nice chilled bottle of Lemon Perrier
and a couple of Season 4 (New) Doctor Who episodes. And I built a Lego set from 2002, one I always wanted to own.

Sunday: not much happened that day. I slept in then went online. I watched the first 4 episodes of "Dollhouse" and
I have to say that I am now intrigued. Later, I watched a French crime film from the '60s, "Le Cercle Rouge".
Eventhough it was a caper movie, which I love, I found it to be rather dull and slow.

Monday: slept in, but not much. Took some time out to remember my great great grandfather, Papa Roux, who fought
in WWI and survived the Battle Of Verdun. And my great aunt Camille who was in the Résistance during WWII. She may
not have been in uniform, but she did her duty nonetheless. I'm not sure where she is nowadays. I would have to go
through my one of my aunts to find out where she is and we're not talking. Damn it, I'll contact them anyway.
Ran some errands and was surprised at how much stuff is actually open on Memorial Day, and normal hours too!
Had a late lunch from Tito's Tacos, and found some Pepsi Throwback at a local AM-PM to wash it down. Good times!
Ran some more errands then went home and packed some eBay stuff for shipping the next day.
Watched an obscure Sam Raimi film that a colleague lent me a DVD of. It's "Crime Wave" from 1985 and it's a lot like
a human cartoon. Slapstick humor, wacky sound effects, wild takes, 3 Stooges humor, a script by the Coen Brothers.
More about it in a future Netflixing post.

Tuesday: back to work! Glanced at the L.A. Times headlines and saw that the California Supreme Court upheld
Proposition 8 (boooooo!) but allowed the same-sex couples already married to remain so (yeaaaaa!).
Like they used to shout in French workers' protests: "Ce n'est qu'un début, continuons le combat!"
(This is but the start, let's continue the fight!)

Hope y'all had a great Memorial Day Weekend.

I was cruising Brickshelf (an online photo gallery of Lego user creations and other things) during lunch today,
minding my own business, when I suddenly found a folder full of photos of Lego knock-offs.
And I'm not talking about Best-Lock, the Canadian brand (though it's all made in China of course) that actually
has market penetration in Toys'R'Us and other places. I'm talking the "real" Chinese Lego knockoffs that you're
never going to see in respectable toys stores in Europe or America, with the parts that look just like Lego parts,
and with the sets that imitate actual Lego sets like the giant Technic Ferrari F1 race car.
Click here and be amazed! I know I was.
Don't forget to click on "next" to see the second page of photos.

A coworker brought in some of that new Pepsi Natural cola today and gave me a bottle to try.
The drink is packaged in a 12oz glass bottle with transparent sticker labels covered with off-white text.
At first glance, it looks like a small bottle of iced tea, with its dark brown liquid and lack of flashy label.
Pepsi Natural is made with: sparkling water, sugar, natural apple extract (color), caramel color, citric acid,
caffeine, acacia gum, tartaric acid, lactic acid, natural flavor, and kola nut extract.
Notice the complete absence of the two big bugaboos: High Fructose Corn Syrup (blargh!) and Phosphoric Acid (burn!).
Yes, but how does it taste?
Well, I am a Coca-Cola fan, and I sometimes drink Wild Cherry Pepsi and Pepsi.
Pepsi Natural has a strong caramel taste that competes with the kola nut flavor.
I personally do not like it much. Your mileage may vary.
Pepsi Natural is currently available at Target stores and costs $4.50 for a pack of 4 12oz bottles.

While digging online, I found some info about "Pepsi Throwback" (and "Mountain Dew Throwback"), with normal sugar.
These will be available starting April 20th and for a duration of 8 weeks. They will be packaged in normal plastic
20oz bottles and 12oz aluminium cans. I will definitely give Pepsi Throwback a try.


Meanwhile, in Lego matters, Shop.Lego.com dropped the price of the Factory 10192 Space Skulls set down to $19.98!!
It was on sale for $35 (down from $70) when I got mine 2 months ago, so this is an even better deal.
I'm not even annoyed about that because 1) there was no way I could have known and, 2) it could have sold out.
So yeah, just an FYI for the Lego people on my list.

In other Lego news, some wonderfully insane person built a 2 meters long Home One Mon Calamari cruiser
as seen in "Revenge Return Of The Jedi", aka "Episode VI".
It's amazing! It's stupendous! It's unbelieva-------ble!! It's got built-in lights!
Here are the specs:
- Piece Count: 30,500
- Length: 260 Studs or 208cm or 6’10” (82 inches)
- Width: 48cm (Max)
- Height: 28cm (Max)
- Weight: 52 lbs (Approximate)
- Design and Build Time: 11 months
- Material Cost: $5500 US.
Major OUCH on that last one!
The builder of this masterpiece is unemployed. Quick, someone get him an engineering job!!


In health news, I have pretty much confirmed that if I eat a dinner consisting of Trader Joe's pasta with marinara
sauce and Quattro Formaggi shredded cheeses, then take Aleve before bed, the Aleve turns into a sleeping pill,
I sleep through my alarms, and arrive late for work. This is has happened twice so far, including today.
This sucks, for many reasons, including the fact that I'm down to just one dose of Aleve a day: the 1am one.
And TJ pasta dinner is one of my staple cheap meals.
Chemistry is fun!
I'll think of something...

This past weekend was spent mostly in the throes of sickness. I've got a cold/flu/bronchitis and it's a corker!
I did manage to refuel the F(n)ord (St)Ranger and do food-shopping. And Best Buy had "Smallville" DVD sets on sale,
so I snagged Season 7, the only one I was missing. I've been rewatching "Smallville" and I'm finishing up Season 4.
The rest of the time, I watched DVDs and played with my Legos. Well, I put some of the Legos up on eBay too.
I watched "The Invaders" Season 2 Disc 2 and "The Adventures Of Brisco County Jr." Disc 3, it's fun!
And I spent time on FurryMuck socializing, and watching that moron Brian O'Connell make a spectacle of himself.
That boy just rants and rants and doesn't even care if anybody's listening. And Fanged God help you if you ever
try to prove him wrong! He will just rant and rant and go on irrelevant tangents until you agree or leave.
What a sad sad little man...

While poking around teh intraweb for Lego information (research!), I followed a link from Brickset.com to the
Flickr gallery of some guy who was at the recent Toy Fair and took lots of pictures at the Lego booth.
The photos confirmed things us Lego fans already knew about 2009 Star Wars sets and also showed actual sets behind
the names. The Mon Calamari Cruiser set turned out to not be the actual ship, but a playset with a bridge portion
with Admiral "It's a trap!" Akbar and a hangar section with a green A-Wing.
Also, the Separatist Shuttle was revealed to be quite small. Darn, I was so hoping for a cool set.
However, there was one brand new item shown, one that blew my mind!
This new item is now listed on the Lego Shop website and will be released March 30th.
Here's a photo of the actual box, to get a better sense of the sheer awesomeness of this set.
It's a Republic LAAT/c Dropship, a skycrane transport version of the Republic Gunship. It's used for deploying
various armored vehicles to the front. This set actually includes one of those armored units, an AT-OT
(All Terrain Open Transport), which is an open-top clone troop carrier seen in "Episode 3".
This set also answers the question of why the AT-TE Walker that was released last year has a centrally-mounted
upward-pointing retracting beam that makes an okay carrying handle. It's the docking point for the Dropship.
OMG, so cool!!!!

Anyway, it's Monday, and I'm back at work. Well, I rolled in at noon because I was feeling like absolute crap
when I woke up this morning. It took a couple of extra hours to get myself together. I'm feeling better but my
voice is still a complete write-off. Throat hurts when I swallow too. I've been taking acetaminophin and NyQuil.
I hope I feel better tomorrow.

Not much going on these days.
My phone doesn't ring. It works fine, it's just that no one calls me.
I'm still looking for better-paying work.
The SACEM wants paperwork that I don't have and don't know if I can get. Things ain't the same in France and the US.
I need to write them a letter (they didn't give me an e-mail address) and explain the situation here versus there.
Yes, an actual letter, in French, that will take a week to get there by mail.
On the other hand, the French attorney handling my grandmother's passing e-mailed me and mentioned that she trusted e-mail more than snail-mail.
Oh yes, apparently my paternal grandmother died a couple of months ago. Those playing at home may remember that the Sibling and I had cut off
all ties to the family back in France, mostly because they were assholes. So the news left me cold.


My ear infection is acting up again, I've lost 20% hearing in the right side due to swelling.
I swear, this thing is seasonal! As soon as October rolls around, wham! No coverage, no money, so no doctor.
I'll just keep the ear clean and get some peroxide to put in.
And wear headphones as little as possible.


From the "I Don't Think It Means What You Think It Means" Department:

L.A. Times.com article entitled: "Stocks gyrate wildly in volatile session"

I don't know about you, but the verb "gyrate" brings to my mind something spinning wildly in place.
I'm picturing the stocks with a hula-hoop around their collective midriff, gyrating wildly!
You know, for kids!
Is this wrongful English usage or am I just needlessly picky?


After a very brief taste of Autumn, Los Angeles Weather Control has cranked the thermostat back up to the low 80s.
At least, it's cool enough at night to not necessitate living-room-futon-relocation for proper sleeping.
But, I'd like to some colder weather for Halloween, plzkthxbye!


I leave you with the latest bizarre Lego ship design from the very talented Nnenn: the Ogre.
Mr. Nnenn's other creations can bee seen here. I recommend the Starfighters, Space and More Space folders, but his other themes are cool too.
More Space contains a replica of a Kilrathi Dralthi fighter from the original "Wing Commander" game.
There's also the player's ship from R*Type.

And now for something completely more fun!

#2 videogame publisher in the world Electronic Arts is giving away the original "Red Alert" PC game
in the world-famous "Command & Conquer" series to celebrate the future release of "Red Alert 3".
(EA lost its title of #1 videogame publisher in the world to Activision/Blizzard/Vivendi this year)
If you go here, you can download "Red Alert" for free (Allied and Soviet discs in RAR formats with ISO).
You can also view the "Red Alert 3" trailer and play "Spot The Actor" and/or "Spot The Bimbo".
I came up bupkis in the latter because I ignore bimbos.
I got a score of 5 in the former (Tim Curry, Jonathan Pryce, Peter Stormare, J.K. Simmons, George Takei).
Yeah, some companies still believe in FMV cut-scenes. Ain't that quaint? :)


Meanwhile, someone on Brickshelf posted sneak preview photos of the 2009 Lego Star Wars sets.
The set numbers all start with "8", which is a little odd as "8XXX" sets are usually Technic sets.
Also, a couple of these sets might be considered mild *SPOILERS* for the "Clone Wars" TV series. Maybe.
Anyway, view at your own risk! Muahahahahahaha! :D

8014 - Clone Walker Battle Pack (a good and cheap way to build up one's army)

8015 - Assassin Droids Battle Pack (IG88 didn't come out of thin air, you know!)

8016 - Hyena Droid Bomber (pretty neat! And dig the space-hardened Battle Droids!)

8017 - Darth Vader's TIE Fighter (a new "accuratized" version, much closer to the original design.)
(Also, notice the "10-year Anniversary" medallion on the box. Lego Star Wars began in 1999.)

8018 - Separatist AAT (a revamped version of Trade Federation hovertank, different color too.)

8019 - Republic Attack Shuttle (like a mini Imperial Shuttle with guns and missiles.)

So, lots of smaller sets to build up armies and have big battles. Toy soldier fun ahoy! :D

Friday: Called Joe at the garage that fixed the Fnord Stranger before I took delivery of it.
Told him about the cracked hose. He offered to fix it for free if I could find the right hose.
Well, that gave me my mission for the day!
I duct-taped the crack on the hose, filled the radiator, and went to Pep Boys to find the hose.
Apparently, they don't have the car diagrams anymore, so it was a complete waste of time. I went to
the nearby Westside Pavilion to make a payment on my T-Mobile account and keep my cellphone turned on.
While there, I discovered that the Japanese toy store "PowerAnime" had not, in fact, closed.
It had relocated to a larger, ground-floor space. Somebody had forgotten to put a sign about the move
on the old storefront way back in October when I tried going back there. Harrumph!
Anyway, this gave time to the Stranger to cool down enough for me to refill the radiator.

Went to the local Ford extortionist dealer to gather some data on the needed hose.
The Ford Parts Guy had problems understanding my accent.
Kzin: "Hi, I need a part."
Parts Guy: "A bolt?"
K: "No, a part. A spare part. A hose."
PG: "What kinda hose? There's a lot of 'em."
K: "I don't know what it's called."
I described in detail where the hose was and what it was connected to. I asked him to put up an
exploded diagram of the truck on-screen so I could point to the part. He replied that he didn't have
such a diagram. Okay, what the hell? I remember clearly such diagrams available at car parts dealers,
both dealers and 3rd party, and now they've all disappeared! Nobody ported them to the computers!
This is stupid and damned inconvenient! While at Pep Boys, I looked through a Chilton car repair book
and nowhere did I see an exploded diagram of the vehicle with all parts labelled and numbered!
Anyway, Ford Parts Guy brought up a super simple diagram showing the heating system and, miracles
of miracles, the hose I was looking for. I pointed to it and he worked the keyboard some more.
Now, this hose I needed was roughly 8 inches long and 1.5 inches in diameter. Pretty small.
"Oh, this is an expensive hose," he clucks. "Over $90 at least..."
He is not kidding. I wasn't planning to buy it there anyway, I just wanted the info.
He didn't have the hose in stock, but he printed out the diagram for me to have, so that was cool.

I immediately took off for Kragen Auto Parts, which is where I had wanted to go in the first place.
The guy at Kragen was incredibly cool. He let me walk in the back and look at the hoses they had in
stock to see if I could find a close match. Then, he let me walk out of the store with the hose so
I could measure it against the existing one. The hose I found was a really close fit, so I bought it.
It cost me all of $9. Mission accomplished! WIN!!! \O/
I came home and found an e-mail from Genex in my box. I did not get the job. They chose someone with
more web server testing experience. Nom de dieu de bordel de putain de couilles de merde!
I dejectedly crashed in front of the TV and watched some "John Adams", the HBO miniseries, on DVD.

Saturday: Got up at 7am (hisssssssssss!!!), showered, dressed, grabbed a few things, refilled
the truck's radiator and took off for Joe's place to get the hose put on. Traffic was wonderfully
light and I got there quickly. After the truck had cooled down, hose installation commenced.
The hose turned out to be the perfect inner and outer diameter. It was a bit long, but that was easily
remedied with a little cutting with a very sharp blade. In the end, it fit perfectly.
The engine was run for several minutes to make sure everything was good, all fluids were checked and
topped up. I shook Joe's hand vigorously, thanking him for being such a cool guy and doing this free.

With that taken care of, I headed for Torrance to attend the monthly LUGOLA meeting.
I eyed the gas gauge nervously the whole time because it was getting low, and I was out of cash.
I had a Lego set with me that I was hoping to sell to get some gas and food money.

( LUGOLA meeting details and photos here )

The weather was hot, the apartment was crowded, but we still had a good time!
And I sold my Lego set so, upon leaving the meeting, I immediately put gas in the Stranger.
Then I stopped at Red Robin for lunch on the way home. I had an A1 Peppercorn Cheeseburger, and boy
was it ever peppery! Also, two baskets of those Bottomless Fries with mayo on the side. :)
Red Robin is a pretty cool joint, they have yet to screw up on me.
I got home at around 6pm and just chilled. I watched more "John Adams".

Sunday: I was hoping to be in the Valley by 10am to help selenesue with stuff moving but
I was, wait for it, "le tired"!! Bwahahahahahaha-snort! Ahem...
So I got there a little later but just in time to stuff the Stranger full of boxes (cue Tetris Song 2!).
And then we stuffed a friend's Exploder full of stuff. Selene's got too much stuff...
We caravaned to the house and unloaded everything with help of a friend's two nephews, or something.
Then we went to the old place and loaded the Stranger and Exploder again. Greg The Jedi showed up
to help load stuff. We caravaned to the house again and unloaded the stuff. I was still achy-breaky
from the Thursday Sound System Deployment & Evac Drill, so I couldn't lift the heavy boxes of books.
I was thankful Greg was there to do that. I was completely drenched in sweat during the whole thing.
Selene treated the survivors to supper at the nearby Sizzler's, and the food was, and remember that
this is a Frenchman talking, to use the current jargon, "meh". At least mine was.
Also, the ketchup was not Heinz. It was a Heinz bottle but the ketchup tasted cheap and watered-down.
I thought there was something wrong with my fries but it was, in fact, the ketchup.
I enjoyed the fully operational air conditioning in Selene's new house for a while, then went home.
Jean-Louis was supposed to come by and get his sound system, but he didn't make it.
I showered and relaxed in front of the TV to watch the rest of "John Adams".
And thus the weekend ended...

Saturday April 19th

Several months ago, coyote_seven had told me that he wanted Pasccal and I to have his old faithful
pick-up truck, which he no longer used. And he had talked his parents into agreeing to this. I had thanked
him profusely and told him that I couldn't do anything until my driver's license problem was resolved.
Well, it was resolved now! So "Operation Kzin Truck" was go!
C7 had to get the truck towed to his family mechanic first, because of a persistent radiator leak.
Since I had a rental car, I was going to drive over, get him at the mechanic's place and take him wherever.
We wound up cruising around and hanging out for the whole day.

So of course, eventhough the weather had been awesome the day before, it was starting to go wonky today.
There were scattered clouds and the wind was awake. I put on a long-sleeve Big Dogs t-shirt, just in case.
I squeezed into the Red Baron and put the top down immediately. I was not gonna let the weather spoil this.
I met up with C7 at his parent's place, where we discussed the truck's status and what we were going to do
for the rest of the day. I wanted to go to the Citadel outlet center to get me some clothing.
(The Citadel used to be a tire factory with the facade of a Babylonian temple. When the factory closed,
the facade was preserved. An open-air mall and office buildings were eventually built behind the facade.)
I had seen a sign for a Casual Male XL store there, and they were having a weekend sale.
Also, I distinctly remembered there being a Big Dogs store in that mall as well.
But first, LUNCH! We were both starving, and C7 guided us to one of the local joint.
The place: Arry's. The menu: vast. I ordered: a pastrami sandwich with fries.
There was enough pastrami for two french rolls, but they only gave me one. And it was desintegrating.
My long-sleeved Big Dogs t-shirt valiantly tried to protect me from the dripping pastrami.
It did not escape unscathed, despite my best efforts at damage control.
I remarked to C7 that we REALLY needed to go to the Citadel now, if only to get a clean shirt! :D

So we went, and boy has the place changed since I last visited it. The amount of stores had doubled,
and the parking lot I usually used was turned into some of these new stores!
I found a parking spot, we got out of the Red Baron and headed for the mall.
A shifty guy approached C7 and almost said, "Pssst, hey you! Need a dentist?"
I'm gonna let Coyote Seven fill in the details here, since Shifty Dentist talked to him. :)

There was a whole lot of people at the mall too. There was a contestant search for some TV show called
"Deal Or No Deal", and several clusters of loud people were roped in and being guided through lines.
Hey, lookit me! I wanna be on TV! Hyuck hyuck hyuck!!! :D
Anyway, the Big Dogs store was right where I left it, so we went in.
I picked out a couple of t-shirts: Muscle Car Club (navy shirt) and Biker Club (black shirt).
I liked the Muscle Car shirt so much, I left it on. The "pastramied" shirt was folded up and bagged.
I wanted this shirt, but they didn't have my size. I tried to interest C7 in getting something. After all,
a coyote is a big dog, sort of. And he always seems to wear black, so he could use a little color. :)
We were both really thirsty and wanted 1) water (C7) and 2) Gatorade (me). We found some vending machines
with both, but I didn't have any change. There was an information office near the machines, so I went in.
I was pretty confident they could make change because they had lottery terminals behind the counter.
And by law, they can only take cash for lotto tickets. So yeah, they had change. :)
Change gotten! Drink gotten! Aaaaaaaah, refreshing...

We meandered toward the end of the mall where Casual Male XL was, and encountered one of the few
KB Toys still open in this state. It was right where I had left it, but instead of a parking lot beyond it,
there were more stores! Like I said, the mall had expanded. But the KB was still laid out the same way.
C7 and I saw toys both amusing and frightening. I mercifully can't remember any of them.
We meandered on and reached the Casual Male store. I went in, looked around, and walked back out.
There was nothing that grabbed me, and I had already gotten two nifty t-shirts from Big Dogs.
So we headed back to the Red Baron, discussing our next objective.
I wanted to hit the Glendale Galleria to check out the Lego Store there, but C7 proposed we go to the
Lego Store in Downtown Disney instead. It was actually closer to us than the Glendale one.
That seemed reasonable, so we hit the 5 freeway and headed southbound. (o/~ Follow that sound! o/~)

Adn we got there in a very reasonable amount of time. I missed a turn and had to backtrack. I knew I had
missed a turn as soon as I found myself driving UNDER the Lego Store! Ouate zoeufs phoques?!?
I was used to being a passenger when coming to Downtown Dizzy, Spino usually drove!
We parked far away from the entrance, because we're not afraid of walking! Yes, that's it! :)
So, the Lego Store, wowsers!
They had all sorts of nifty things you usually can only buy online: the motorized walking AT-AT,
the big Star Destroyer and the Death Star, the new city block sets (Café Corner, Market Street),
the Eiffel Tower, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the Jawa Sandcrawler, most of the train stuff, etc...
I was looking specifically for the Building Crane (7905). It's bigger than it looks, it reminds me of
the remote-controlled toy cranes that were so popular when I was growing up in France, and it's ON SALE!!!
And it was OUT OF STOCK! But, the salesgirl told me that I could order it right there at the store,
and it would be shipped to me for free! Hey, that's not bad! So I went for it.
Also, there were a few sets on sale for half-price, including EXACTLY ONE Exo-Force Aero Booster (8106)!
I had been looking at that set for the past month or so, but I had shirked at paying the full $30 for it.
I mean, it was cool and all, and it's possibly the most Gundam-like of all the Exo-Force sets.
Well, I could stop fretting! I got it for $15! Hoo-hah! Score! And other colorful expressions of win!
We exited the Lego Store and walked to the other end of Downtown Dizzy. C7 was hoping to get into the
park and ride a few rides. His parents and sibling were already there, but they couldn't help us.
We retraced our steps and made our way back to the Red Baron.
We left Downtown Dizzy and started looking for somewhere to dine.

I was heading generally Westbound and suddenly came across Gilbert Street, which sounded familiar.
So I made a left. Then I remembered where I knew the street name from: the infamous Prancing Skiltaire!
I wasn't planning to stop there, but it served as a convenient navigational point, and from there,
I knew where to go to find various eating establishment. C7 seemed slightly alarmed at passing so
close to the PS, and couldn't believe the light-up sign was still there, attached to the tree.
We ghosted by, made a right on Trask and headed for Beach Blvd., where all the food was.
We cruised North on Beach, looked at all the choices, and decided on Red Robin.
The food was great, the service was awesome, and we had a bitchin' funky disco time!
The waitress was very personable and I think she exchanged e-mail addresses with C7.
o/~ Coyote's got a girlfriend! Coyote's got a girlfriend! o/~ :D
Just kidding! She already has a boyfriend. :)
We eventually left and headed back to C7's parents' place, where his car was parked.
Eventhough it was chilly, I kept the top down. And C7 wanted it that way, too.
Nothing like driving at night and looking at the stars...
There was a Volkswagen commercial like that on TV.
And, hey, it's on YouTube!
Why convertibles are awesome! (Turn down your lights where applicable)


Next post will cover Sunday April 20th and will be photo-heavy.

Being for the benefit of Ms. doronjosama, whom I figure will get a kick out of this.
Somebody made a Lego Doronjo, complete with henchmen!

http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=299059

I smell new icons!! :D

Today, Monday January 28th 2008, is the 50th Anniversary of the Lego brick.
If you don't believe me, check Google's main page. :)

Nothing else in this world has given me this much joy for so many years.
Well, aside from good food and good drinks. :)

Lego forever!