One Short Day in the Tinsel Town


After nearly five months of advanced planning, it came to one short night in Hollywood to see Wicked. Of course, the day started off with work as usual, but being a short Friday helped ease the sluggishness.

After work, Mother Routes, Timotei, and I went straight to Universal City via the Metro Red Line subway. We browsed through some stores where Timotei bought a bling blingy Fossil brand watch. He had been eager to make an "all-for-me" purchase for a while now that he's got money.

Not too long after, we started to get hungry and decided to eat at Gladstone's. I had heard much about the place, but nothing specific. All I really knew was that they shape your leftovers into a foil swan. We ordered pretty big. I had the halibat. Timotei had the Mahi Mahi. Mother Routes had a hot seafood sampler with all the fried everything you could eat. It was a nice time and all, but when our waiter returned with our boxed leftovers, there was no swan to be found. I was disappointed. That blunder shaved off 10% from the tip.







Dining at Gladstones on Universal CityWalk.






After CityWalk, we headed to Hollywood and Highland and bought some stuff at American Eagle Outfitters. I bought a new shirt that was perfectly appropriate for the show. It looks just like another shirt I have (from the same store), but it was only $12 so I didn't care.

Then it was finally time to get down to the theater, coincidentally right when everyone else in our party was showing up. Most of them hadn't eaten yet, so we shared our seafood leftovers. But I guess that wasn't good enough because a lot of folks went to a nearby cart to eat some hot dogs. Here's a montage:

Eat fast. Chew later.










And then we took some pictures and went inside. The show itself was pretty good. Not the best cast as some of the singing was off, but great performances from the Wizard and Morrible. They really stood out. Also of note, at intermission, MacArthur alerted me to the fact that the original Glinda from the New York production was in the audience. After much delay, Cat and I went up to her and chatted for a bit. Apparently it was her first time actually seeing the show. She signed our programs and we quickly got out of her hair. She was really sweet and damn hot!

And that was that. My own personal Summer Du Joy trudges along without much fanfare. Next week sees MacArthur's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory birthday party, as well as the brand spankingest new Harry Potter book: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I can't wait to get my eyes in that!

Oh, and congrats to me! This entry marks my 200th blog. Looks like I'm averaging 100 posts per year.



Lightning bolt scar tingling,

Wicked
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How Do You Measure... Measure Two Years


I had written a reminder on my iMac that my blog anniversary was yesterday, but since it died, I totally forgot. Well, it's pretty cool lasting two years with my thoughts online. My readership has grown from three readers to five and my blogs have become increasingly bitter and angry (as witnessed in the last entry).

But I ain't stoppin' now! I won't let a defective computer stop me from my noble readers, oh no! I will blog until blogging ain't cool no more. Yeah, yeah, everyone and their mamba instructor has a blog nowadays and I gotta be honest, I don't read anyone else's. But I'm trying to remember why exactly I started this thing. Maybe I secretly wanted a diary all my life. Or maybe I thought I could write entertaining little stories that people will enjoy reading. Or maybe I just had too much time on my hands. In any case, I've enjoyed the experience and experiment and you have all fallen into my trap! These blogs have been subtly sending subliminal messages into your brain. You're all my loyal servants now and for my first command, I instruct you all to send me a dollar.

I think I'm going to start a new tradition that I should have started two years ago. I'd like to post a "now" picture of me that will be updated on the anniversary date. We'll see how I age! Maybe someone can make a flipbook out of it and I'll look like I drank from the wrong holy grail.

So here I am, 2005:

Five dollars richer,

Ricky
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S-Mac Down!


So today started out just freakin' fine and dandy. I tend to try and avoid using those queer ass terms such as "fine and dandy," but I'm trying to come off as extremely sarcastic at the moment (as I punch this blog into my keyboard fucking pissed).

I was chatting with S-Dawg while looking up some stuff on the internet. Possibly some Disney stuff. When all of a sudden, my computer starts to freeze up. The screen would freeze up and give me that lovely beach ball mouse icon (the equivalent of the hourglass icon for PC users). These freeze ups lasted for minutes apart and would again freeze when I clicked anywhere on the screen. So I powered it down and back on and would you fucking know it??? The damn thing never starts up again.

So I try my damndest to fix the problem, but after several different scans, I'm told by the computer that the hard drive needs to be repaired. So I'm going to have to get my ass down to the Apple store and get it fixed (and I have to drag Nick Burns along with me). Yeah, I need a replacement part after only about 50 days of operation. This is not the reliable, problem-free Apple experience I was expecting. Somehow, I always get the bad luck with big purchases. I get the shitty parts. I get the headaches. Fuck this shitty life!

Dammit, could I just catch a break for once? Jesus, is that so much to ask? God damn this fucking world. Now I really do hope aliens come and destroy the planet. Where the hell was that apocolypse that we were promised? WHERE ARE THE FUCKING TRUMPETS???

Note: I realize that any company I buy a computer from could potentially install a defective hard drive. In no way does this make me completely regret switching to Apple. Will I switch back to PCs? Fuck no. I can't go back to boring operating systems. I'm going to get this fixed and return to the iMac. But I sure as hell will be scared that my hard drive will go on the fritz again. Hell, if I learned anything from this (and it's happened before on the PC and I never ever learn), it's this: BACK UP YOUR FUCKING COMPUTER!!!

If I have to go through that iTunes crap again, I'm just going to have to slam my head through the monitor and end it all now.



The fucking luckiest mother fucker on the planet because I won $15 and a broken hard drive,

Ricky
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Friggin' Suite!


My new big boss invited my entire department to the Dodgers vs. the D'backs tonight. With the Fourth of July weekend and many co-workers leaving town, extra tickets were distributed to Mother Routes's side and she and Timotei got to go too!

The company has a suite on the first base line and it was freakin' awesome sitting there. From the time we entered, we noticed that our tickets were bigger and grander than normal tickets. We knew exactly where to go, but we asked people anyway so that we could make it KNOWN that we were in the suite.

When we got to the room, many co-workers were already there. They had free food set out; Dodger dogs, barbeque chicken, sandwiches, salad, potato salad, pasta salad, chips, popcorn, assorted nuts, cookies, fruit, beer, soda, mineral water... but the greatest food item came by special cart... The Dessert Wagon. Jebus Crisco, they had desserts up the wazoo. All sorts of cheesecake, Snickers cake, candy, caramel apples, chocolate shot glasses, and cupcakes made it the fatman's heaven. But for me, I got the 6 layer carrot cake which was undoubtedly the BEST carrot cake I've ever had in my life. Six layers of goddamn goodness with a whipped cream that bitch-slapped my tastebuds. I ate so much.

The game was awesome too! The Dodgers kicked major major league ass! There were two homeruns and Jason Repko made a spectacular catch out in right field where he slammed into a lighted display. It was craaaazy!

I'll have pictures from the event soon.

In other news, I am getting a new pair of eye glasses. I've been heavily wearing my contact lenses for the past year (day in and day out from 5am to midnight) and my eyeball is telling me, "NO!" Something about developing bumps on my eyeball something something. Whatever. I really don't give a shit about my health anymore. Fuck this whole life thing.

Anyway, now I'm trying to cut down on my contact lens reliance and wear glasses most of the time. I had a pair of glasses, but they were really thick, so I never wanted to wear them out. So this time, I paid $255 out-of-pocket for the thinnest pair I could get; the best money can buy. They'd better be nice or that's just another $255 sitting on my counter while I develop more speed bumps on the ol' corneas.



Root root rooting for anything good to happen,

Ricky
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Alien Con Balles


Steven Spielbergo is the man! That guy knows how to shoot big. Huge even.

Timotei and I saw War of the Worlds today. This movie is the definition of summer blockbuster action movie. Every 5 minutes or so, there is a huge scene that either bleeds thrills, chills, intensity, suspense, or all of the above. From the first time a human is obliterated, I was fully engrossed in the film. This wasn't going to be a happy-go-jolly E.T. cutesy whoopsy. There was a genuine threat and genuine fear as I was watching. I got to thinking about what I would be doing if this were to really happen, as if it could happen tomorrow.

The film has several images that only Spielberg could envision. There is a beautiful shot of Dakota Fanning in front of a flowing river. Another terrific scene has Tom Cruise and family walking through a field of falling fabric. The action sequences are enormously thrilling. They are interlaced with quiet scenes that allow you to catch your breathe before the next heart-pounding moment.

I feel the movie goes on too long though. Like A.I. (Artificial Intelligence), midway through the movie, I was happily content with the movie and just wanted it to end on a great note. Sure the movie provides us with more great action scenes, but these scenes are pretty exhausting. And soon you start to wonder how and when it'll come to its conclusion. And that brings us to the matter of the conclusion. It's a fine ending... I don't want to say anything. I was a little ehhhh about some things, but overall, I think it's a nice way to end the movie and a nice explanation. I think this movie will be even better on the second viewing since you know where it's going.

Now it may seem like I'm on the fence about recommending the film, but this isn't the case. I totally recommend seeing this in theaters. There are too many exhilarating moments that need to be seen to believe. This movie will become a classic. This movie grabbed and engrossed me more than Batman Begins even! Not to say that WOTW is better than Batman. I think Batman was a more satisfying movie. But it didn't pull me into it as much as WOTW. I mean, Batman. There was no real danger. We knew he was going to live. But in WOTW, there was a real sense of fear and danger for these characters.

Anyway, I'm rambling now. I really liked the movie a lot. It's definitely not perfect; far from it. But it's pretty damn awesome with some nice ideas. Oh, and it reminded me of Half Life 2.



Thumbs up; Ebert's crazy,

Ricky
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The Luck of the Chineesy


Firstly, I must say... HOLLA to Angel Wing Jasmine who found herself a 6'8" Firefighter/EMT. I really hope this guy is the dreamboat you've been looking for! If not, I'll have to set you up with Cerberus.

Now, take a gander at this:

Am I a lucky bastard or just a bastard. You decide.

I thought it was damn cool that all of the numbers turned out to be the winning number, but couldn't it have been a bigger cash prize? I mean, damn! I want to be rich already so that I don't have to work anymore. I really want to buy that house in Beverly Hills because that's where I wanna be!

Well say good bye to me my little friends because I won't be having much time for the rest of the year, it seems. We are coming across some serious deadlines at work. Things need to be done and tested before products are released and I'm in charge of many of them (some that need to be completed by early July). And to make matters even more pressing, I have to start studying my ass off to take a licensing exam in September. Yeah, that's a long whiles away, but it's also a lot to study. It's the SATs all over again.

So, to summarize. Money. Busy. Cry. Cry. Pee.

Any questions?



Gee whizzy whizzin',

Ricky
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Weekend at Ricky's


The Quan Clan went up to witness Samantha Wu's graduation this weekend which led to the question: What do we do with our wittle doggy Cerberus?

Well, it was either leave him in a very confined gated space at their house with a friend checking up on him every once in a while... or have the dog stay with my family.

Having the heart that I have, which at this moment is shrinking 3 times its size, I agreed to care for the pup for the weekend.

Lee Leman and Mojo Maggie dropped Cerberus off Thursday night with a doggy bed, food, a cage, leash, and instructions. The most important thing to know was that when he needed to pee, he would stare and wag his tail at you. Then if you ask him if he needs to pee, he will jump on you to confirm.

Well, the only problem was that after they left, he did the "need to pee" signal every 10 minutes! We figured that he was trying to fool us just to search for his family outside.

The first night was the hardest. Cerberus would NOT stop whimpering and barking at the front door. I tried to calm and reassure him, but he kept at it all night long. That left me with 2.5 hours of sleep for a nice day of work on Friday. Luckily I only had to work half the day. While we were at work, we locked him up in the cage, but by the time we got back home, he had escaped and was romping around the house.

Today, he's calmed down plenty. And I think I've generally got the hang of his schedule. Wake up at 6am, take him outside to pee and poop. He sleeps until 8am when he has to pee. Sleeps again for two more hours, pee or poop. Sleep. Pee. Poop. And me having to scoop.

We were considering getting a new dog; a chow chow just like Ellvin Kelvin's girlfriend, whom I'll name Faith. She apparantly has many chows and has talked Ellvin Kelvin into getting one. But I think I'm now in the market for a outdoor dog. One that I don't have to worry about taking it outside to do its biznazz. You know, a dog that will be there to walk when I want to walk him, not when his bladder comes a knockin'.

At the moment, Cerberus is following me around the house everywhere. It's both annoying and adorable. But please, Quan Clan, hurry home. I'd like my freedom back soon.



An unshowered dirty filthy old flea bag,

Ricky
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Batman Begins review


BATMAN FREAKIN' RULED!!!

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Earthquack!


Did you feel it?

A 5.6 earthquake shook Palm Springs this morning. That's a pretty nice tremor being that we haven't had any earthquakes in a long while. Where was I? I was sleeping when it hit. I woke just as the window started rattling and the walls began to rumble. I was too lazy, however, to run to a safe doorjam. If it were a stronger quake, or if my lamp had landed on my head, I would have run for cover. But earthquakes aren't as frightening as they once were. I say that now, but when that 10.5 attacks, I'll be the first to run out of the house, screaming like a chickpea.

These weekends are so short! I can't believe I have to go back to work already. That brings great sadness to my relaxive state. But as my dad says, "You've only been working for 2 years. You have 60+ years to go. Suck it up boy!"

Many of my family are graduating this summer. So congratulations to K-mart, Psyman, and Samantha Wu for surviving high school, high school, and college, respectively.

I'll think of more to write in the future. I promise. I'll have some scintillating stories coming soon, especially with the ants returning to my humble toilet. Yes my pretties, drink from the sea of knowledge whilst I flush you into eternity.



Chasing squirrels, hating ants,

Ricky
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So Far Away


I realize I have been away for a while without a peep. And perhaps that makes you mad. If it does, then that brings me joy. I'm sorry, but that's just the way things are. But still, I've been away and busy for the most part and I'm here to tell you why.

I've actually tried twice to write up a blog, but I haven't had anything really worth talking about or something that could fill an entire blog entry. So here are some quick bullet points if you will that will bring you up to speed.

- The iMac is better than ever! At the Apple site, they have all these free downloads (legit!) that plus the system. Things that range from making iTunes even easier to access to ripping DVDs to back up files. I even have a program that can build photo mosaics, or "pho-mo's." I love having my own personal computer, or "PC."

- I took the computer over to the Oblong's home to test out the Wi-Fi, or "Wireless Fireless (?)," connection, which worked like a charm, and they accused me of keeping the iMac a secret so that I could be the first to own one. Pffft, some secret. I'd been talking about getting an Apple computer for weeks on this blog thing. Plus, I would probably be the first to get an Apple anyway since no one else would be willing to give them a shot. Everyone in our extended family is Windowsified. And as if Apple computers are anything new. But one thing that brings me shame. I accidentally knocked over a porcelain vase while packing up the computer and it shattered. It turns out that it was a housewarming present from the Oblong's grandmother's sister. I truly do apologize that I did something so stupid and am willing to purchase some ice cream for you if that will help.

- The job is pretty tedious with the copious amount of testing we have to do. We have to test some new software with old software and check for differences and bugs. The worst part is that when you find a bug, you have to see it through to its fix. And most of the time, I'm not sure what's right and what's wrong. So it's tough and daunting, but it's only beginning. Hooray!

- Timotei applied and interviewed for the job I left behind and he got it! He actually starts tomorrow and yours truly will be training him. I hope he enjoys working 10 hour shifts because I'm gonna whip that mo-fo, or "mother foolio," into prime number crunching shape.

- I finally went back to Disneyland yesterday! Erico Suave and MacArthur thought I had been away from it far too long and took me to see the 50th Anniversary stuff. I'd been away so long that I was actually excited to be there. They made some changes to the Jungle Cruise, Pirates, and Mansion (the coolest effect EVER!) and have new parades in both parks and a new fireworks show.

The new parades are nice. The Parade of Dreams does feel rather short, but I just thank the stars that its no longer the dreaded Parade of the Stars. The Block Party Bash is really fun and energetic, but I hate some of the music (Macarena? Hey Ya???). And the fireworks had some really great moments, but as a whole, I still prefer Believe. There's a really cool part that involves the Pirates of the Carribean music. And the coolest part was the Star Tours segment.

MacArthur even got into an argument with a bitch when the fireworks started. Everyone in front of us was standing up, so we decided to stand up in order to see. Well, this one bitch told us to sit down, but it would be entirely easier for her to just stand up. So she starts yelling, seriously, at MacArthur (who kept a calm demeanor) about how he doesn't have to be "so f***'n rude" and, and I'm not joking, "why you gotta be a bitch because you look like a bitch?" It's so funny what people think of at the spur of the moment just to try and top someone; especially when such a one is a ghetto skank ho bitch who look like a motha fuggin' skank ho slut bitch. Anyway, her family told her to knock it off and we had a good laugh afterward.

That's not the only instance of rudeness I encountered yesterday. While waiting to get dinner, I realized that people get all bent when it comes to food. In this case, and in many others, it's the fat white folk. They don't want anything to stand in the way of their carbs and will butt in, cut in, do whatever they want to get it. But that's only my experience.

Anyway, I guess that was more than enough useless info to create a blog. Would ya look at dat.



Ghetto super star,

Ricky
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