Photo of the Week (12/30/07)

Greetings from My Parents’ House in West Covina, California, USA!
Photo was taken on Tuesday, December 25, 2007 (CHRISTMAS!).

2007, GOODBYE! The trees in this week’s photo have a holiday story. My parents have had the same fake Christmas tree for over 3 decades but in the late 1980s we bought a living one. For several years the potted tree was brought indoors and decorated in December than outside again for the other 11 months. Eventually we retired (i.e. planted) the tree, which flourished for many years in the front yard. Unfortunately the neighborhood has trees that behave like weeds. One took root next to our tree, which we discovered too late. The dying pine was cut down and later “cremated” in a beach bonfire – truly leaving in a blaze of glory. My dad replaced the old tree with a trio of pines – three Christmas trees instead of one – as shown in the photo (see my car in the background).

Nowadays Christmas is a low-key affair for my family. Long gone are the days when uncles, aunts and their children gather in someone’s house to celebrate the holiday. Now all my cousins are adults, several are married, some have kids and a few live more than a day’s car trip away. My brother and I have neither wives nor kids yet, so it’s just us with our parents, making for a relaxing Christmas Day.

With the year ending, now is a good time to tally up some figures with hopes of finding fun facts about this inaugural year’s 25 photos of the week. Somehow I managed to choose photos that cover every day of the week – Mon: 2, Tues: 3, Wed: 2, Thurs: 1, Fri: 3, Sat: 7, Sun: 7. Weekends dominated, reflecting a comment from a previous email – even without a job taking up my weekdays, I had more activities on weekends. Also on at least three occasions I found myself on a Sunday afternoon without a single picture taken in the past week and hustled to take a shot of anything. From one mad dash came my favorite photo – the beach sunset.

The photos were taken in 10 cities with just one outside the United States. In fact the other nine cities all lay in California, covering the 3 southern counties of Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego. The final count is 6 in Newport Beach, 4 each in Costa Mesa and San Diego, 3 in West Covina, 2 in Irvine and 1 each in Brea, Fountain Valley, Lake Forest, Universal City and Rosarito (Mexico). With a full year ahead, the photos are sure to showcase a greater diversity of cities

Lastly on December 21, we had the second of the biannual solstices, the official start of winter in the Earth’s northern hemisphere (summer in the southern). While I am no fan of cold weather, the winter solstice has at least one positive – the start of longer days and shorter nights. WOOHOO! HELLO, 2008!!!

Angelo

Photos of the Week (12/23/07)

Greetings from Newport Beach, California, USA!

Photos were taken on Wednesday, December 19, 2007.

Last week I mentioned not using people’s names in these messages. It’s one of my rules. What are these rules and why do I have them? Read on…

Rule 1: 500 Words (or so) maximum. This limit helps me cut my ramblings and focus the messages. Also “a picture is worth a thousand words” but if I write that much, will you read them all? Some of you deal with so many emails a day. At my last job I easily received and sent between 100 and 200 messages daily. Then at home, I would not touch my personal emails. I like to believe that you read my messages immediately upon receipt but that is wishful thinking as we all have busy lives. I simply hope that reading these emails (whenever that may be) gives you the same moment of calm that I get when writing them.

Rule 2: 1 Picture. Everyone’s email system is different. For some the photo is an attachment that must first be downloaded to be viewed. For others it is embedded as a viewable image in the message. Multiple files could be time-consuming to access as well as max out mailbox space. Then there are weeks when I barely took any photos and other weeks when I have a tough time choosing just one. I’ve already found a “loophole” to this rule when I placed two photos side-by-side and save it as one file. But this week I have included more than one and no loophole in sight. Sometimes rules just have to be broken.

Rule 3: No Real Names. I could be self-centered and say that these emails are all about me so all other names are banned. Okay, not true. The real reasons? Privacy: I do many things with people who also receive this email and don’t want any one thinking – for example – that I will mention the trip to a “gentleman’s club” with “John Doe”. Simplicity: I only mention people who are absolutely relevant to the picture or message. Mystery: Some things you will only learn if you talk to me directly and sometimes only after a drink or ten. You will only get so much info from my emails. Face time is worthwhile.

Now as a holiday gift, I give you TWO photos. I’ve managed not to bombard you with Christmas shots week after week. Instead you get them all at once. One photo is from a nearby office building. The other one shows some of the lights and flowers that deck the halls of my home. My roommate and I had a small holiday party a few weeks ago. He had the tree and plenty of lights. I had ornaments and plenty of free time on my hands. Yup, plenty of lights and plenty of time. I didn’t use all the lights but sunglasses are now required when entering the living room.

Angelo

Photo of the Week (12/16/07)

Greetings from Newport Beach, California, USA!
“Photo” was taken on Tuesday, December 11, 2007.

I was surprised to learn that the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral came out over thirteen years ago. You may be surprised to learn that it is one of my personal favorites. “Wedding” in the title practically screams chick flick but it’s well written (Oscar winner for Best Original Screenplay), well casted and well acted, making it very entertaining (Oscar nomination for Best Picture too). I mention the movie when joking that after three weddings, if I attended a fourth one this year, the funeral would be mine. Not a single wedding is on my calendar but last week there was a funeral – obviously not my own or the origins of this latest email would be very suspicious. The recently deceased was a friend’s mother – I never actually met the woman but ironically I first met the friend at a wedding almost three years ago.

Fortunately my list of weddings far exceeds funerals in my thirty-odd years of life. Unfortunately my list of dearly departed covers the entire age range from my cousin’s daughter (she was stillborn nine years ago this month) to my maternal grandmother (After we spent a day together, she passed away that evening at age 81). In between?

There was a family friend’s daughter who drove too fast and hit a dip in the road, causing her car to flip with her boyfriend and her inside. Seatbelt use – he did and lived, she did not and died. There was a classmate from my high school years who collapsed after coming home from his college class. He had an undiagnosed medical condition, probably the same one that causes the seizures that his twin brother starting having years later. There was the neighbor’s son who lived in excess – too much eating, too much drinking, too much smoking – until his body endured too much. He left behind an out-of-wedlock infant daughter who will never know him.

The first death was preventable. The second death was unfortunate. The third death was sadly inevitable. What’s worse is that they were all my age. The family friend’s daughter died at 17 and I was 16 at the time. The classmate was 20 and so was I. The neighbor’s son was 28 and I was 27. Death is bad enough. When it happens to someone your own age, especially in your youth, your own mortality becomes more palpable.

You may have already noticed that I have no photo this week. You may also notice that I end these emails on a positive note. In lieu of a photo is a simple placard to honor my friend’s mother. I avoid using people’s names – I should explain why in a future email – but this is a worthy exception. As for a positive note after writing about death, here it is: In the season full of giving and getting, remember to appreciate what you already have.

Angelo

Photo of the Week (12/09/07)

Greetings from My Parents’ House in West Covina, California, USA!
Photo was taken on Sunday, December 9, 2007.

I was all set to use a shot of the balloon ride at the Great Park in Irvine (http://www.greatparkballoon.org/) as my photo of the week. Thursday afternoon I was driving home from a lunch meeting when the “giant orange” came into my peripheral view. The new ride has odd operating hours – open only on Thursdays & Fridays 10 AM to 3 PM and Saturdays & Sundays 9 AM to 3 PM – but I was in the right place at the right time so I decided to take the ride. Unfortunately strong winds grounded the balloon for the day. I took some pictures with absolute certainty that one of them would be the weekly photo. But something happened.

The windy weather was a precursor to a rainstorm on Friday leaving smog-free skies and snow-capped summits. Last weekend I visited my parents and from their house is a great view of those peaks. I saw the white-on-white scene of mighty mountains and cotton clouds and had to take a snapshot. The picture isn’t perfect. The foreground shows power lines from an electric sub-station and a blue building with its semi-obscured yellow sign – the Ikea superstore in the neighboring city of Covina. Nonetheless it’s the photo of the week.

The rain and snow are clear signs of autumn with winter soon to follow. The days are still sunny and warm but the nights have gotten chilly. Then again I consider anything below 70 degrees Fahrenheit to be cold. I have never experienced a winter of sub-zero temperatures and hope I never do. Then there are people who dream of them…

Take Irving Berlin for example. This songwriter’s musical talent brought him to Hollywood and the entertainment business. His time spent here inspired the song and movie “White Christmas”. The warm weather and tropical trees of America’s Southwest contrasted starkly to the cold and snowy winters of his youth in New York City and the Northeastern USA. The song’s original first verse was about the palm trees and swimming pools of Los Angeles and explained why Mr. Berlin was “dreaming of a white Christmas, like the ones [he] used to know.”

Give me a Southern California winter any day. Hmm… “I’m dreaming of a warm Christmas, like the one I had last year. With palm trees swaying and children playing on the lawn with the fake reindeer.” Mr. Berlin must be turning in his grave. Sorry, Irv.

Angelo

PS: I had a typo in my last email. The correct French phrase is “C’est la vie” not “Cie la vie”. Alas, I’m only human – I think…

Photo of the Week (12/02/07)

Greetings for El Torito Restaurant in Fashion Island Shopping Center, Newport Beach, California, USA!
Photo was taken on Tuesday, November 27, 2007.

This week’s photo was taken at a friend’s 41st birthday celebration at El Torito. We were in the restaurant’s patio where these decorative lights added to the festive atmosphere. If you do the math, you’ll see that my friend hit the big 4-0 last year and he wasn’t alone. In addition to plenty of weddings, I also went to at least five parties celebrating the 40th birthday milestone in a 16-month period of time from November 2005 to February 2007. Not surprisingly all the celebrations were for men and not a single woman. I know one lady who celebrates birthday #29 every year, never reaching #30. I should point out that I have known her for 10 years. You can do the math and then contemplate the age double standard between the sexes.

By the way I have known about the El Torito restaurants for years and yet only recently I realized that its name is Spanish for “The Little Bull”. (You can see wall art of bulls in the picture.) I took five years of Espanol in grade school and the simplest words and phrases still stump me. Then again my last class was nearly twenty years ago and I haven’t used the language much, not even during my trip to Mexico last September. Cie la vie. Wait, that’s French. Oy, vey. Wait, I mean… Oh, never mind.

Back to milestones, next year will mark twenty years since I went to Australia as a high school exchange student. While my Spanish-speaking skills have suffered, my Aussie-speak has fared much better by keeping in touch with a handful of classmates in Oz, several of whom receive this weekly email. I made a return trip to the Land Down Under back in 1994 (almost fourteen years ago) but in two decades only a single classmate made the trip across the Pacific to see me - just one in twenty years. Maybe this guilt trip will result in a plane trip from one of them. Two decades, mates, what are you waiting for?

Finally last Friday was the last day of November. I predicted rain by month’s end and it happened. There were even flash flooding warnings. Nothing close to biblical proportions but I will take what I can get. Ready for my next prediction? I predict… Nothing. I got nothing. Check back next week. Until then, um, er… What is good bye in Spanish? Caio? Wrong, that’s Italian. Arigato? No, that’s Japanese for thank you. Aloha. (Close enough.)

Angelo

Photo of the Week (11/25/07)

Greetings from Goat Hill Tavern in Costa Mesa, California, USA!
Photo was taken on Wednesday, November 21, 2007.

Thanksgiving Day. Many American television series do an episode on the holiday and, when they air in other countries, I wonder if the rest of the world fully understands the meaning of the day or if they yawn and switch channels to watch something else. This North American holiday is celebrated in Canada (the 2nd Monday of October) and the USA (the 4th Thursday of November). Its name says it all – a day to give thanks, namely to God, but it transcends religion. Regardless of one’s beliefs, everyone can take part, as the day is to reflect – being thankful for what you have. Family and friends gathering for a meal is just icing on the cake or more appropriately vanilla ice cream on warm apple pie sprinkled with cinnamon following a dinner of turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, cobs of corn dripping with butter… Hungry now?

My parents and I celebrated the holiday at a restaurant where a long-time family friend had a surprise party for her 85th birthday. Just reaching that age is impressive yet she has other big numbers. Her one and only husband died a few years ago after 60+ years of marriage. She has 16 children (13 girls, 3 boys, no twins or other multiples), 45+ grandchildren, 25+ great grandchildren and counting. Her kids’ births span 2 decades and she spent 12 years being pregnant (9 months x 16 kids). There is no beating this woman. Combined my 2 parents and their 13 siblings had 30-odd children. Close but not enough.

From Thanksgiving to gift-giving, the holiday weekend officially starts the shopping season for Hanukah, Christmas and Kwanzaa. This year was the first time I heard of stores opening at 4 A.M. Thursday: eat for a great meal. Friday: shop for a great deal. What about Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving? If they are in town for the holiday, my friends and acquaintances traditionally meet at the Goat Hill Tavern bar - on the floor sawdust and on the walls and ceilings an eclectic collection of posters, photos, road signs, bicycles, mailboxes, airplane parts, etc. I’ve even seen snow skis. Yet the bar is best known for having over 100 beers on tap. As shown in the photo of the week, this is also where beer taps are immortalized as the patio ceiling is lined with the taps of beers past and present… Thirsty now?

Angelo

Photo of the Week (11/18/07)

Greetings from MetroPointe Shopping Center in Costa Mesa, California, USA!
Photo was taken on Friday, November 16, 2007.

Among my few rules is one picture per weekly email. But what if I pasted two photos together? Loophole! I don’t want every picture from now until the end of the year to be holiday-related, yet counting this email, two of my last three photos are precisely that. With six weeks left in the year, let’s see how well I do in maintaining diversity. As for this week’s combo-photo, I really liked the night shot. When it’s juxtaposed next to the day one, the decorative lighting stood out even more.

Gasoline prices are rapidly climbing up again. My Jeep Wrangler gets about 16-18 miles/gallon. I’m not buying another car yet but I want my next one to get better mileage. I’ve always tried to combine multiple destinations on car trips but it’s gotten to the point where I’ll avoid driving altogether. I spend a lot more time at home and that makes going out to take photos a bigger challenge.

Meanwhile the entertainment industry’s writers’ union is on strike. I am for the writers. They get 1/3 of one cent per dollar of revenue from video sales & rentals, television reruns, etc. That’s 33 cents per $100 – literally pennies. Writers currently get nothing for new media such as digital downloads via the internet and are demanding 2/3 of one cent per dollar. Overhead costs are practically nothing in the virtual reality of the web compared to the production of dvds. The governor for the state of California is Arnold Schwarzenegger, a former actor. He hasn’t intervened in the matter. I never voted for him and don’t expect much from him either.

This month next year the United States will vote for a new leader in the first election where no candidate was president or vice president previously since Dwight Eisenhower defeated Adlai Stevenson in 1952, over 55 years ago. The race is wide open. I can’t even guess the candidates from the two major political parties. Meanwhile I didn’t vote for Bush #2 as U.S. President yet he was elected… TWICE. Gas prices up, exchange rates down. I can’t blame him for Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, et. al. but the recovery efforts were really bad. In contrast this year his original presidential opponent Al Gore received the Nobel Peace Prize as well as Oscar and Emmy awards. Who would have predicted this?

Speaking of predictions, in October I predicted a storm of biblical proportions but no rain yet. I’ll give it until the end of this month but don’t hold your breath. Then again maybe you should. We may soon ditch gas-powered cars for solar-powered boats as the global warming that Gore talks about will have melted the polar ice caps. But what do I know.

Angelo

Photo of the Week (11/11/07)

Greetings from the Wine Cellar shop & bar in Lake Forest, California, USA!
Photo was taken on Saturday, November 10, 2007.

I am in my 10th year (A Decade – YIKES!) as a member of the Junior Chamber AKA the “Jaycees”. The organization has chapters throughout the world and its purpose is leadership through community service and other projects. I give much credit to the group for my acceptance into the USC Marshall School of Business - its MBA programs are among the USA’s best. I’ve been involved in my chapter’s board of directors off and on through the years and I believe those experiences helped me stand out among the applicants for business school.

To show my appreciation to the Jaycees, I decided that I would chair one project a year. Past events have included organizing volunteers for the Taste of Newport festival (3 years), a beach barbecue & bonfire (also 3 years), a whale watching cruise and a scavenger hunt. This year I organized a Holiday Charity Social. Essentially it was a cocktail party held at a wine shop & bar (the Social part) where we also collected donations for the Pajama Project (the Holiday Charity part), which provides children with sleepwear, books and toys.

If you have ever organized an event big or small such as a dinner for 10 or a wedding for 100 or something in between, then you know that the week leading to it and especially the day of the event can keep you busy. A good portion of my last week was spent prepping for this social. That included getting the wine glasses shown in the photo of the week. One company donated this stemware that attendees would keep. The glasses had the name of the business that just happened to be owned by a very good friend.

The social was a new project and we had bumps along the way that delayed event promotion and advertising. Consequently attendance was low – approximately 25 people – and my goal was 40 to 50. Nonetheless we made a good profit.

“VOLUNTEER. LEAD. SUCCEED.” That is my Jaycee chapter’s motto. I believe that the project accomplished that. Despite the low turnout, the social was lively. Another motto is, “Eat, drink & be merry!” The food was delicious, the wine flowed freely and the attendees had a great time. And so did I. Cheers!

Angelo

Photo of the Week (11/04/07)

Greetings from Brea, California, USA!
Photo was taken on Sunday, November 4, 2007.

Despite Halloween, last week was uneventful, something that I didn’t realize until Sunday evening when I thought about the photo of the week. I was at my parents’ house once again and out of ideas on picture-worthy things and places. What to do, what to do?

On my way back to my own home, I often stop for gasoline (petrol for the non-Americans reading this) at a station in Brea. It consistently has the lowest gas prices that I have found anywhere. It’s a small comfort when you see that prices are on the rise again combined with the unusually weak exchange rate for the US dollar. But back to Brea…

The city did a redevelopment of its downtown area, making it more attractive to retail and commercial business. This is a strategy that has worked well for the cities of Orange and Pasadena (Block of Orange and Downtown Pasadena, respectively). Downtown Brea now has a 20-screen movie theatre, loft spaces for commercial and private uses and retailers big and small.

I stopped by and took a few shots. Daylight Savings Time ended this weekend. Starting this year, the Daylight Savings schedule in the USA now ends on the first Saturday of November instead of the last one for October. Nonetheless darkness comes an hour sooner. My camera flash doesn’t help much with wide shots at night and many photos were blurry. (Note to self: Buy a tripod.)

October 31 was less than a week ago, but businesses immediately switch from Halloween scary to Christmas merry. In the photo you see through a window trimmed in colored lights as employees work after regular store hours at a Bath & Body Works shop decking the halls for the holiday gift-giving season. Less than 7 weeks before Christmas. Have you gotten your shopping done yet?

Angelo

Photo of the Week (10/28/07)

Greetings from Fountain Valley, California, USA!
Photo was taken on Thursday, October 25, 2007.

On Saturday I dressed as Zorro for two Halloween parties and one was at my own home. My roommate and I are in neighboring chapters of a volunteer organization. His group lost its event location and our place was the 11th hour replacement. Meanwhile I also had a volleyball friend’s party on the same night. My roommate’s party had a ton of leftovers – the chicken alone will last for a month, just in time for Thanksgiving and the traditional turkey dinner. I’ll be sprouting feathers soon. Aha, a costume for next year!

The California wildfires are worldwide news. Living here, you have great odds of knowing at least one of the half-million evacuated people. I received several emails from friends and acquaintances. One mentioned watching from her bedroom window as a fire burned a nearby hillside. I talked with an evacuated couple that spent three nights sleeping in three different places. Fortunately my biggest problem was smoke and ash and not the possible loss of my home or life.

If I was asked for my most eventful year, 2007 is in strong contention to take 2nd place – this series of emails is proof to that. In indisputable 1st place is 2001 but not because of the World Trade Center disaster. So much more happened. Among them: An acquaintance committed suicide. I took three trips - to Japan for business school with classmates, to the Caribbean on a cruise with my brother and to Northern California on my own. I attended three weddings including two that occurred on the same day. A cousin’s son was about two months premature and missed being born on my own birthday (the BIG 3-0 that year!) by two days.

On the last day of 2001, I asked, “What else could happen?” Mere hours before the New Year, the question was answered when I called a classmate in Australia where it was already 2002. She updated me on our common friends. When I asked about Scott, she replied, “Have you heard? Scott is now Samantha.” Can you end a year on a note more surreal than this? By writing that, I tempt the Fates once again. Just over 2 months left – plenty of time for 2007 to become my 2nd most eventful year. I never want to top 2001.

Recently I wrote that the Red Sox team would win baseball’s World Series before I got married. Then they won and I’m not married yet. My superstitious 13th email mentioned the devilish Santa Ana winds and the weekly photo numbered “666”. Then California became hell on earth. Am I channeling Nostradamus? While you ponder, enjoy the photo: Koa the kitty playing with Tessa the golden retriever, half of the four pets (2 canine, 2 feline) that I took care of while a friend was out of town. Last week I mentioned storms and mudslides. I now predict it will soon rain like cats and dogs, as the saying goes. And be prepared for the second coming of Noah and his ark.

Angelo

Photo of the Week (10/21/07)

Greetings from Irvine, California, USA!
Photo was taken on Saturday, October 20, 2007.

“Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” Judy Garland’s character says this to her pet dog as they set foot in the titular land of the movie “The Wizard of Oz”. We’re not in Kansas, nor Oz, but the city of Irvine at a Halloween-themed housewarming party. The “Dorothy” in this photo of the week is the daughter of two good friends. Their son was also dressed as an Oz character, the Cowardly Lion, but had taken off his headwear earlier in the evening, never to be worn again.

The party itself was very entertaining, especially as it went late into the night. “En vino, veritas” is Latin for “In wine, truth”. The things said in front of friends and strangers alike flowed as freely as the wine and beer AKA the truth serum. One woman dressed as a bee and wanted her husband to dress as a flower but he refused and came as a chicken instead. Anyway among the things I learned were that Chicken and Bee tried to join the mile high club but the airplane’s coach section lavatory was too small. Another couple – a disco Ken and Barbie - said the ones in business and first class are definitely roomier.

The evening was far more entertaining than my afternoon earlier that same day. I participated in an aquatic scavenger hunt. In an electric-powered boat called a Duffy, each team cruises to checkpoints in Newport Harbor as part of the competition. On my team I was the only guy and also chosen to “man” the steering wheel despite my limited experience. The result was 2-1/2 hours with 5 female back seat drivers and no way out. I spent all my time steering and couldn’t take pictures. My team members took some photos and I’m sure the look on my face would say it all. We didn’t win but all in all I had fun.

As if I hadn’t done enough, on Sunday I went to a welcome home party in a park for the adopted son of a family friend. The afternoon was enjoyable despite the fierce Santa Ana winds. The news is full of reports of the many wildfires ravaging Southern California. I’m nowhere near any of the fires but still get fallout as the winds carry the smoke well beyond the hot zones. A rainstorm would be nice right now but the burned out areas would probably be prone to mudslides if they got too wet. You just can’t win.

The current temperature in Kansas is a bit too cold for me – a high of 60 degrees Fahrenheit, a low of 40. This week I am dog sitting for a friend who went to Hawaii on business. The temperature there is a high of 86, a low of 75. Hmmm... What would happen if I clicked my heels three times and said, “There’s no place like Hawaii”?

Angelo

Photo of the Week (10/14/07)

Greetings from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, California, USA!
Photo was taken on Saturday, October 13, 2007.

On Sunday was my third and final wedding for 2007. No chance on a fourth before the end of the year, right? Right?!?! The ceremony - quick, the bride – stunning, the reception - a blast. And unlike the last wedding, I did not lose my jacket, my lunch or anything else. The day went fast but I have the pictures to show for it. Among the photos are shots of the three bridesmaids and me, of me hand-feeding white chocolate to a bridesmaid and of the bride in my arms being dipped on the dance floor.

But enough wedding pictures. You need something different - like another adventure in San Diego – the third time since August. What else can I possible do there? It’s a trifecta, a triple play, a triumphant trio of trips. I went to a football game, then SeaWorld and now an air show. That’s land, sea and air.

On Saturday I went with a group to the Miramar Air Show, an annual event showcasing the United States Marine Corps. The only performance cancellation was the parachute team due to the previous night’s storm. The wet weather probably made a few people stay home meaning smaller crowds. The cloud coverage also kept us from baking under a hot sun, which eventually broke through in the late afternoon.

Plagued by another low battery, I managed to get three dozen photos or so before my camera shut down. Among aircrafts big and small sharing the airfield with tanks and other military vehicles, I checked out the vast interior of a transport plane, got myself photographed in the cockpit of a Coast Guard rescue helicopter and fought back the urge to buy a BMW motorcycle after sitting on a display model. I even successfully avoided the food booths - well, most of them. I bought some fries but I didn’t buy the motorcycle… This time.

After I walked for what felt like forever, it was time to sit down and look up. The afternoon was four hours of an amazing and action-packed aerial show. An assortment of airplanes performed death spirals, corkscrews, flips, turns, dives and even fly-bys with planes passing within mere meters/feet of each other. The finale was the Thunderbirds – a six-plane air demonstration squadron courtesy of the United States Air Force.

My favorite was the Harrier jet - it flies like any other jet but also took off, hovered and landed like a helicopter. A still picture cannot fully show what the Harrier can do. A video on a big screen television does no justice either. Nothing compares to seeing it live – the noise, the power, the awe. Of course my camera had stopped working by then. Its final shots were of the Patriots jet team complete with smoke trails of red, white and blue as shown in the photo of the week. As Superman says, “Up, up and away!”

Angelo

Photo of the Week (10/07/07)

Greeting from Corona del Mar Beach in Newport Beach, California, USA!
Photo was taken on Saturday, October 6, 2007.

It’s back to the beach for this photo of the week. On Saturday afternoon I realized that I hadn’t taken any pictures. Just two weeks ago I was in this very same predicament and I ended up with a shot of my brother’s two pet turtles and a bunch of paragraphs about expired passports and confessionals at Vanity Anonymous meetings. I won’t do that again. This time the weekly photo will be my police mug shot and I’ll write about court-ordered anger management classes and the completely erroneous accusation of airbrushed pictures during my passport office visit. Or maybe not.

The weather lately has been a mild but dry heat. The Santa Ana winds do not come from the local city of Santa Ana but from the nearby mountains. Your friendly high school science teacher will tell you that air becomes warmer and drier as it move down from the mountains and towards the ocean. Centuries ago the Spanish colonists associated the warm dry wind with the devil Satan and the name evolved from Santana to Santa Ana. Okay, class dismissed.

Following the Mexico trip, I had promised myself to acknowledge the end of summer and put my job search into serious mode. My roommate may vouch for my more reclusive behavior this week but on Saturday, with my need for a weekly photo, I ventured further than my mailbox. The “devil wind” cleared up The City of Angels’ smoggy skies and sunsets take on new colors so to the beach I did go. Ask a seasoned photographer about the “golden hour”. It’s a brief period of time immediately after sunrise or right before sunset. The sun hangs low in the sky and the angled light casts a golden glow. I didn’t quite capture that in my photo. Nonetheless I’m impressed by the amount of detail that my digital camera did capture. Sunset at the beach from an empty lifeguard station. Welcome to the OC. Welcome to Southern California. Welcome to my life.

Angelo

PS: I just noticed the purely coincidental fact that, through my camera’s automatic numbering system, the attached photo has the file name of “DSC00666” (note the last three numbers). I’ll be under by bed covers until the devil wind stops.

PPS: I forgot to blind-copy my distribution list, not a major security breach, but then I realized that this is my 13th weekly email. First the photo's "666" file name, now this. Forget the bed covers, I'll be under my bed.

Photo of the Week (09/30/07)

Greetings from Las Rocas Hotel in Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico!
Photo was taken on Saturday, September 29, 2007.

This is the first photo in this weekly email taken outside the United States. It is also an unofficial sequel to the picture from the 07/29/07 photo of the week. The bride from the first wedding and the groom from this second wedding are siblings – sister and brother. I will be going to yet another wedding in October - my third this year – but there is no relation to the first two.

I will have gone to three weddings in each of the last three years and easily over 20 in the last decade. I know of more family, friends and acquaintances who also got married in that time that would push the count to over 40 easily. Thankfully I’m not invited to all of them. Otherwise I’d spend every weekend alternating between bachelor parties and wedding receptions.

After attending so many, I have often joked that the guest list of my own would be everyone who invited me to his or hers. As to when I myself will get married, the Boston Red Sox will probably win Major League Baseball’s World Series again before I tie the knot. Then again the Red Sox are in this year’s playoffs and may not have to wait another 86 years (or whatever the actual number is) to win it again.

The wedding in Mexico was easily in my top three of best wedding receptions ever. I know a lot of people at my family’s weddings but my relatives don’t drink. If you go to a wedding where you don’t know many people, then drinking isn’t as much fun. When you know a lot of the other guests AND they drink AND the reception has an open bar AND you don’t have to drive later, it makes for one AWESOME party. Senor bartender, a round of tequila shots, por favor.

I lost count of my drinks after 10. I joked with one friend that I would have to rate the wedding as a 10+ because of this. I may have lost count of drinks, but I didn’t “lose my lunch” although other people said they did (and no hangover the next day – WOOHOO!). I thought that I lost my suit jacket but the groom’s sister called me a few days later and said I left it in the wedding couple’s suite and she now had it. How did it ended up in that room and why she had it now? The travel rule applies: What happened in Mexico, stays in Mexico.

Angelo

Photo of the Week (09/23/07)

Greetings from My Parents’ House in West Covina, California, USA!
Photo was taken on Sunday, September 23, 2007.

I must confess. I didn’t do much this week. The past month has been busy but I finally spent time reading mail and paying bills and washing laundry and… I even booked my hotel room for next weekend’s trip to Mexico for a wedding. I am heading south of the border… With an expired passport. At least my driver’s license is current.

A new law passed tightening passport requirements for international travel. A consequence was a larger than expected rise in passport applications, stretching the processing time up to 3 months. Because of the delays, the law was temporarily relaxed for land crossings only to the U.S. neighbors of Mexico and Canada. An expired passport was better than no passport. Disaster diverted.

Although I had read about the new laws and expected delays, I put off getting a new one. The government was in the final stages of issuing a new computer-chip-embedded passport. Also passports are valid for 10 years and I vainly thought about the picture of me that people would see for the next decade. Let me lose some weight first. In fact I wouldn’t mine reusing my previous passport picture. I look younger (I was younger). I should attend a Vanity Anonymous meeting. Hello, my name is Angelo and I am vain.

Can you tell that I am fluffing up this email? As for the photo, it was Sunday afternoon and I had not taken a single shot all week. I was at my parents’ house and racked my brain for ideas. Eureka, the turtles! They belong to my brother and, well, that’s all I got. I already admitted that this was an uneventful week. As the saying goes… Confession is good for the soul. And it makes you look younger too.

Angelo

Photo of the Week (09/16/07)

Greetings from the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California, USA!
Photo was taken on Sunday, September 16, 2007.

This is my 10th photo of the week and I see a trend. Half (5) of my chosen pictures were taken on a Sunday, 2 on Monday, another 2 on Friday and 1 on Saturday. Nothing is from the middle of the week – Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. Despite my free time most of my more noteworthy activities are happening near or on the weekends. This week is no exception.

This weekend was the Taste of Newport, a three-day food & music festival, and this year was a milestone as I volunteered for the 10th consecutive time. Okay, my motives are not completely altruistic. I volunteer at the alcohol booths – selling, serving and, um, sampling.

There is more. Socializing with friends, drinking, people-watching, drinking, eating, drinking. Did I mention drink… um, music? This year the headlining performers were Huey Lewis & The News on Friday, Devo on Saturday, and Kevin Costner on Sunday. No, not a typo. Yes, Kevin Costner the actor.

The original plan was going to the Taste on Friday for Huey Lewis and Saturday for volunteering. I have gotten to know the event organizers very well over the years and found out that they were shorthanded on volunteers Friday and Sunday, so I offered to help out on those days too.

I caught most of the Huey Lewis performance, which was good, I completely missed the Devo show as I was working a drink booth far from the stage at the time and I left before Costner sang but heard later that he was decent. I already had a prior commitment elsewhere at the same time as his show.

A friend invited me to a Sunday evening mixer at the Aquarium of the Pacific that included access to all the exhibits. The place has otters, octopi, starfish, jellyfish, lobsters, sea horses, and much, much more. I had just been here a year and a half ago but this return visit was just as great. The aquarium has touching pools filled with sharks, stingrays and horseshoe crabs. I reached in, picked up a crab and discovered that it was “stuck” to another one. They were mating and did not stop despite my intrusion. Horseshoe crabs have existed for millions of years. I witnessed one of the reasons why.

Once again so many pictures of so many creatures and I must limit myself to one. I should start a website so I can post all the other photos. Which do I choose? The ice sculpture. It was next to the bar. Do you see another trend?

Angelo

Photo of the Week (09/09/07)

Greetings from Project Playhouse at Fashion Island Shopping Center in Newport Beach, California, USA!
Photo was taken on Sunday, September 9, 2007.

In Project Playhouse, teams, typically sponsored by corporations, design and build special themed miniature houses, which are auctioned off for charity. What can you say about a community where parents are rich enough to buy their children custom-made playhouses for literally thousands of dollars with that money going to help the homeless? The irony is as subtle as a brick dropped on a foot. Me, sarcastic?

I must admit that the houses are amazing. The creativity, craftsmanship and detailing is impressive. This year the houses include a ski chalet, a Japanese teahouse and a diner with drive-thru. One house had a miniature ice rink for hockey. My favorite was the Hawaii beach cottage complete with surfboards. Thus it’s my photo of the week.

Before being auctioned off, the houses – fully furnished, no less - are displayed for several weeks at the Fashion Island shopping center. Despite the many excessive shows of wealth in Newport Beach and Orange County in general, the shopping center is not on an actual island. Prime real estate like that is better used for full-size multi-million-dollar waterfront houses. Those homeowners can buy the playhouses and put them next to the custom-made doghouses, which are just for show anyway - the dogs have their own bedrooms in the main house. As for the homeless…

Oh, ouch! I think that my sarcasm gland just burst. Gotta see the doctor now.

Angelo

Photo of the Week (09/02/07)

Greetings from the Aerospace Museum in Balboa Park at San Diego, California, USA!
Photo was taken on Monday, August 27, 2007.

Day 2 of the overnight trip to San Diego started with the morning spent on Coronado Island, home to Hotel Del Coronado, a resort with ocean vistas and a distinct architecture. The perfect weather practically required us to dine outdoors at one of the hotel’s cafés. This easily beats working in an office cubicle under fluorescent lighting on a Monday (or any day).

The afternoon stop was Balboa Park where I toured a couple of museums. At the Automobile Museum the motorcycles and cars were great but the building was more oversized repair shop and less dealership showroom. By comparison, the Aerospace museum was a palace. Unfortunately my camera battery was nearly drained. Before the camera shut itself off, I was able to squeeze out a few shots including the photo of the week- a Navy fighter jet on permanent display in front of the building.

Speaking of space, you would think that I went to bed early when I got home that evening. But sleep had to wait. Eclipses are common but a total lunar eclipse completely visible from start to finish on your side of the Earth is not so common. With a fully recharged battery in my camera, I took a series of photos of the gradually disappearing moon from midnight to 3:00 AM. It would take another 2 to 3 hours for it reappear but would be competing against the light of the rising sun. Meanwhile the fight against sleep is a war you always lose, so I went to bed.

Lastly, while stretched out in a lounge chair watching the eclipse, I saw a shooting star. Just two weeks earlier I also stayed up late and went to a semi-rural area to watch the annual Pleiades meteor shower. I saw a few streakers in an hour or so before heading home. A half-month later I see one from my own patio. It’s more impressive when you realized that I was in the middle of a city where the urban glow diffused from street lamps, etc. drowns out a lot of light from the night sky. The brightness of a full moon could also outshine a shooting star but the total eclipse took care of that.

One night, two rare celestial events. I should have made a wish on the shooting star. Drats.

Angelo

Photo of the Week (08/26/07)

Greetings from Shamu Stadium at SeaWorld in San Diego, California, USA!
Photo was taken on Sunday, August 26, 2007.

A friend and I headed to San Diego for a two-day trip. Planning the excursion proved a challenge – we had trouble finding two consecutive days without work commitments, social events or family obligations on both our calendars preferably before the Labor Day holiday weekend to avoid the crowds but still enjoy the park’s extended summer hours. Now I have a greater appreciation for couples and the effort needed to coordinate their schedules.

Speaking of couples, my friend (a woman) and I were talking to the woman next to us in line for the whitewater-rafting ride. She thought we were married and was really embarrassed when I said we weren’t. I have no wedding band or any type of ring on my fingers. In fact I haven’t even worn a watch in the last few years nor have my friend and I even dated each other. I’ve avoided mentioning my friend’s name to spare her any embarrassment. See, I’m being a perfect gentleman.

My one-photo-only rule was really tested this week. Should I go for the overhead shot of the shark taken in the underwater tunnel? Maybe the eerie yet cool photo of the nautiluses? Perhaps flamingos or penguins or puffins? How about beluga whales or polar bears or aquatic acrobats?

Ultimately I went with the star attraction of SeaWorld – Shamu the killer whale. The shot was taken in the evening at the day’s last Shamu Rocks show, which is immediately followed by a fireworks display. After that it was off to the motel, which was inexpensive and a block away from a “gentleman’s club”. I remain a perfect gentleman.

Angelo

Photo of the Week (08/19/07)

Greetings from Universal Studios in Universal City, California, USA!
Photo was taken on Friday, August 17, 2007.

I attended a postage stamp ceremony at Universal Studios. Customarily when the United States Postal Services (USPS) has a new commemorative stamp, it will be available for purchase only in one city for the first day, then nationwide the following day. You can also get a special cancellation mark on the stamp to show that it was bought on the "first day of issue".

The USPS has a series of stamps called the "Legends of Hollywood". Since 1994 a new stamp comes out of a "Hollywood legend" - an actor, director, etc. - and I've gotten a sheet of stamps of each one - 13 so far. Previous stamps in the series had James Dean, Alfred Hitchcock and Lucille Ball. This year it was James (Jimmy) Stewart.

You can use the internet to find out what stamp is coming out when and where, which may relates to the person on the stamp like his birthday and hometown for example. Also the ceremony may be public or private. I went to the James Dean stamp ceremony, which was by invitation only and held in the back lot of Warner Bros. Studios. The simple trick is to find out whom to contact and asked to be added.

Same deal with the James Stewart stamp. It was held at Universal Studios. I called the contact and got on the list. The ceremony was great. They played clips from some of his movies, 3 of his 4 children and their families were there and an impersonator did a little show as a finale.

Since I was already there, I went to the Universal Studios park, took the behind-the-scenes tour and watch some shows including the Waterworld one as shown in the picture. I was sitting in the "wet zone" so when that plane landed in the water, the splash completely drenched my front side. I did see the wave coming and was able to put my camera behind me before it could get soaked too.

By the way, I have one simple rule with this weekly email - I can attach only one picture. Even though I have shots from the Jimmy Stewart stamp ceremony, I didn't include any. Of all the pictures from last week, I liked the airplane shot the most.

Lastly, you may have already noticed that I am not in any of the photos. Since I am often on my own, I'm not in most of the pictures. Also I am semi-intentionally choosing the ones without me in them. Consider it "artistic preference". Rest assured, I was actually at all the places.

Angelo

Photo of the Week (08/12/07)

Greetings from Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California, USA!
Photo was taken on Sunday, August 12, 2007.

A friend invited me to watch a football game. For the non-Americans getting this email, this is the American version of the sport where we use the oval-shaped ball, not the other version with the checkered round one that David Beckham and the rest of the world plays.

My friend runs his own business and was being wooed to buy season tickets with a luxury suite. He got a couple of comp tickets for a pre-season game to check it out. For those unfamiliar with the concept, a luxury suite is typically a room behind a group of seats at a sports stadium. Usually the suite is stocked with food and drinks and has chairs and couches where you can sit and watch the televised version of the game while the actual seats will generally have a great view of the playing field. The really nice ones will even have private bathrooms. There is also a premium parking spot too. Often businesses will give buy a luxury suite and seats for the season and give the tickets to employees and/or clients.

Frankly I was not impressed. The food was the typical stadium fare and the view from the seats was partially blocked (despite what you see in the attached photo). The cost would have been $6000 - $8000 per seat for 10 games for the season - that's $1400 to $1600 a game for two seats because you are typically going to go with at least one other person. I didn't see the value and I say that despite the fact that I drank too much and spent half the game sobering up. At least my friend did the driving.

Angelo

Photo of the Week (08/05/07)

Greetings from Corona del Mar Beach aka "Big Corona" in Newport Beach, California, USA!
Photo was taken on Monday, July 30, 2007.

Off and on for the past 10 years or so, I have played beach volleyball. I even took classes to learn some of the skills and strategy to play competitively - not that I compete. I did once and didn't do too well. Enough said about that. I first started playing with a group that met every Monday during with summer months, then took the classes and started to play on weekends too year round.

At least once a summer after we're done playing, we have a barbecue and bonfire at the beach. It's done potluck-style - everyone brings something: hot dogs and buns, marshmallows & chocolate & graham crackers for smores, chips, salad, etc. When the cooking is done, we build up the fire and kick back until the beach closes.

Here's a shot of our fire. The city set fire rings on a section of the beach, which is adjacent to a cliff. From up top, you get a great view of all the bonfires - as many as 20 or so when all the fire rings are used - which happens practically every night during the summer. For all the Australians and other people in the southern hemisphere reading this email, it's summer in the north hemisphere right now.

Angelo

Photo of the Week (07/29/07)

Greetings from the University Club at the University of California in Irvine, California, USA!
Photo was taken on Saturday, July 28, 2007.

A good friend works at this college campus and met her husband here as well. Appropriately they had their wedding here too. This is also the school where I got my bachelor's degree.

Despite the popularity of digital cameras, I never bought one until this year. I'm still learning all its features - reading the instruction manual would ruin the fun of discovery. My camera has a dial with various settings - close up of a face, landscape, bright sunlight, night shot, snow, ocean, etc.

While leaving, I walked to the gazebo where the ceremony was held. I set my camera to night shot with flash and this is what I got. The lighting is all flash, nothing else. Cool, huh?

Angelo

Photo of the Week (07/22/07)

Greetings from Costa Mesa, California, USA (AGAIN)!
Taken on Saturday, July 21, 2007.

I took a second trip to the fair 8 days after the first. This year the theme was "Cowabunga! The Year of Herefords, Surfers & Sand", a playful combination of a traditional fair attraction - Herefords are a type of cow - and the county's beach culture.

For the non-Americans getting this email, I live in Newport Beach in Orange County - the same city as the one in the television series "The O.C." and MTV's "Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County". If you have watched either show, beach scenes are common.

Cowabunga, dudes!!!

Angelo

Photo of the Week (07/15/07)

Greetings from Costa Mesa, California, USA!
Taken on Friday, July 13, 2007.

This was the last day at most recent job - coincidentally Friday the 13th. I was scheduled to take the afternoon off and go to the Orange County Fair. Although the company cut me loose, I still went to the fair.

Photo was taken on a ride that gives you a bird's eye view of the fairgrounds. On the left you can see the chair contraption - what little there was of it - that was the only thing between me and the ground several, several meters/feet below (see how small the people are down there?). Carnival area with ferris wheel, carousel and other rides are in the middle background of picture.
Angelo