Greetings from Claremont & Newport Beach, California, USA!
Photos taken on Saturday & Sunday, May 16 & 17, 2009.
On Tuesday I watched my second movie of the year, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The title superhero originated in comic books from Marvel, one of the two veteran publishers – DC is the other – in the “graphic novel” industry. I avidly read comics while growing up and preferred DC – home of Superman and Wonder Woman – over Marvel – home of Spider-Man and Iron Man.
I am more familiar with DC’s canon of characters (Quiz me on Batman!) and more critical of those translations from page to screen (Dark Knight was awesome!). Thus my expectations are fewer for Marvel’s menagerie of mutants. In fact my only major point of reference of Wolverine was the X-Men trilogy and, like that film trio, this latest movie thoroughly entertained me.
On Saturday afternoon I attended another crawfish boil. Although my friend stands firm on his retirement from cooking these feasts, others may use his knowledge and equipment. His coworker did just that and in trade my friend was able to invite his own guests. As if the crawfish were not enough, another attendee brought shrimp – actually giant prawns. Between the two crustaceans, I easily ate beyond capacity.
I must have tripled my normal daily calorie intake and was still attending another event that evening. Fortunately it was the Newport Beach edition of the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. Participating for a third straight year, I had an ulterior motive this time around. I stayed up all night and, mostly in two shifts between midnight and 8 AM, walked the track for over 3 hours – a great way to burn off the calories from my seafood feeding frenzy.
On Sunday the Relay ended at 10:00 AM and I went home, ate, showered and was sleeping by noon. Circa 8:30 PM I was semi-consciousness when an earthquake literally shook me wide awake. As a veteran “quake-rider” I felt that the shaker, a 4.7 on the richter scale, was mild. One roommate was home and actually excited. From Oklahoma but in California for over 8 years now, he had yet to experience a quake. During the last noteworthy tremblor in July 2008 he was driving his car and felt nothing.
Though centered within the metropolis area, the quake left little damage. So no pictures of shattered windows or collapsed buildings. In consolation this week has two photos, both sequels to shots from last year. In one an eager hand stretches towards just cooked and still-steaming crawfish. In the other a graphitti-like “LOVE” sign is framed by grass below, palm trees above and Relay walkers on both sides. That’s all we need – food and love… And comic books.
Angelo
