May 2002 Archives

It is now three years since I relocated back to the friendly confines of Southern California. One thing that seems to stand out is the number of redevelopment projects that are going on in various places around the Southland. It seems that no matter where Roger and I look for a new apartment to call home, there is some sort of construction going on next door. After almost two years of construction at the current apartment, I think we are ready for some peace and quiet. One apartment complex we have looked at (from the outside, still waiting to see the inside) is located on the street that my grandparents and dad and my two aunts lived when they moved to California back in the 1950's.


Big Disney news - well at least for me. I will be learning a second attraction at the park (pretty good considering some people have waited over a year). I won't spill the beans, but you can get an idea of what I will be learning by looking at this old Gorn photo. Needless to say, I am excited and bit scared at the same time. It is definitely a step up on the difficulty scale, but nothing that I can't handle.


I managed to switch my shift on Saturday to be able to attend Mandel's next big party (tm). It should be a fun time, and hopefully they won't gang up on me and vote me off like they did when we all played "The Weakest Link" some time ago. I still have no idea how they are going to fit 50 people into that house of theirs.

Another Grad Nite is in the books. This one was a bit different than last week's because I was working out at the main entrance as opposed to in the park. Basically, imagine when the cowboys are herding the cattle into a pen, and substitute graduating seniors as the cattle, and us poor guest control cast members as the cowboys. Some of us got trampled and pushed, but luckily I was positioned towards the middle of the esplanade directing people away from the entrance to California Adventure. After the melee and a break, I headed into Fantasyland for the last hour to do pyro control (making sure no one was in the fallout zone), and helping get people on and off Peter Pan. When all was said and done, I was in bed by 4:15.

Of course, my dreams last night were all about out of control crowds at Disneyland, but thankfully they were just dreams. I slept in as late as I could to try and recharge the batteries for the weekend. I expect it to be a madhouse at the park this weekend.

The CR-V is still fantastic, and the amount in gas money I am saving is much welcomed. Of course, I have only had the car since Monday, and I already have 400 miles on it. I still need to think of a name for the car. Every car since the Accord has had a name beginning with the letter J. My first car, the Corolla, was dubbed the 'Trekmobile' by my mom and the moniker stuck.

I might have an opportunity to resurrect the Movie Czar Reel Reviews sometime soon for a web site that one of my brother's former co-workers is putting together. If things pan out, I will post a link here and in the Club House.

Well, I finally did it. After months of research and searching and being pestered by auto salesman, I am the proud driver of a Silver 2002 Honda CR-V LX. It took over six total hours over two days at a car dealership in Fontana (where is Fontana? way out in the inland empire about halfway to Palm Springs from LA) to get the deed done. Along the way, my sister Sarah managed to get an identical one. She opted for the CD changer and alarm, I opted for the Alarm. No luck on the DVD Video system, but if I ever get a real job, that will be tops on the list.


I have no photos yet, but will try and get one and put it up on the site before the week's end. I just need to find a site that is as good as the one I took the Xterra Pic. I didn't have mixed feelings about getting rid of the Xterra. It was a fine vehicle and all, but it sucked gas like it was going out of style, and I was never happy with the seating position for the driver. I already like the acceleration and the seating position of the CR-V, and it will only take me a while to get used to the radio position (at the top of the center stack). I have noticed that the shifter is located directly between me and the volume control when it is in drive. I have already run into it a couple of times last night. But overall, I really like this car a lot more than the Xterra. The best part? Getting the CR-V will save me a good chunk of change each month which helps out on the bottom line.

3am - Just back from the screening. Star Wars Episode 2: AOTC really clipped on by and you really don't notice that it is 2hrs and 20 min. Overall, I'd give it a good solid 3 stars, much better than Phantom Menace and Empire. I did notice some flaws with the processing or the print of the movie. Early on in the film, there were sections that looked dark and pixilated. I'm hoping it is just the bad digital transfer to film we were watching, but Andy, Oszie, and I will attempt to see it in digitally projected soon. When I first saw Phantom Menace in theaters, I felt the same way - so I know that the digital version will be better. The true test will be when the DVD comes out in November. I'm sure they will have it all cleaned up by then. I thought the version we saw was going to be digitally projected, but we ended up in a different theater with standard film.


The lightsaber battles were great, the best ones are, of course, near the end - and much more satisfying than in the Phantom Menace. I thought the Anakin/Dooku battle was especially well lit - using just the light from the sabers, and of course there is Yoda - his lightsaber says "Bad Mo Fo" all over it. I got used to CGI Yoda(tm), but it took some time.


Oh yes and let's not forget the horrible parking structure at the Grove. After 15 minutes of sitting at a standstill, we finally went down the entrance ramp instead and ended up coming out at one of the exits. Really bad design - I don't care if it can tell you how many spaces are left on the floor.


That is my incoherent ramblings for now. If I think of any more I will post later in the day.

I have noticed that I have been more frustrated than usual. I think it is the end of Spring booboojeebies that I seem to get every year. Last year, it sent me off to French Polynesia, and if I had the time and money, I'd probably be off somewhere again in the next month or so. By this time last year, I had already been to the Grand Canyon and Yosemite before heading off to Tahiti last June. This year? I haven't even made it to Arizona to see Mom and Kevin (sorry Mom).


I think an extended weekend is due soon. One of the things I hope to do is see the Pet Shop Boys in Concert. They will be at the Universal Amphitheater the first week of June. It might be good for the soul (and sole for that matter) to have a change of pace and do something different. I picked up the PSB's latest CD Release last week and really liked it, especially the tracks "London" and "Here".


Oh yes, at least there is Episode 2 (in case you forgot) tomorrow night. I will try and have something posted on Thursday about it, but mind you I will have bizzaro schedule for the next few days with Grad Night and all.

It's official! Lev, Andy, Oszie, and I will be partaking in a midnight viewing of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones next Wed./Early Thurs. I am eagerly counting down the days. In case you didn't know, yes, I am a dork. There are not too many movies that I will go see at a midnight showing, but Star Wars movies definitely are worth it. When I saw Episode 1, it was at a 2am showing with Cooper in Sacramento, a mere five days before moving to LA to work with Lev and Andy (and later Oszie). So after three years, I finally get a chance to see a Star Wars movie with them.


If I were an artist, this is the type of thing I would do. Just ask anyone who has seen the mountains of drawings that I have for the fictional Bonita Verdes and Club Josh Highway Systems. It was a hobby when I was in high school that led me into cartography as well as the development of Doingworld. So in a way, I am an artist, but only for a limited audience, not 150,000 people a day.

Yesterday was Le Grand Excursion to Disneyland with my Jerri, Granny, Dianne, and Amanda. A great time was had by all and you can see a picture from the trip on the Club House page. I always enjoy going to DL with people who are not regulars to the park. It gives me a chance to play tour guide as well as watch them experience things for the first time. Now if one of us had a small child it would have been perfect.


Highlights included Granny's first trip on Indiana Jones. She was completely stiff the whole time, but was cracking jokes afterwards. Another great moment was Granny, Jerri, and Dianne talking about Oprah and sex-changes with the Disney photographer in front of the castle. Ah yes, let's not forget the petrified looks of Granny and Jerri on Soarin' Over California before they got comfortable and opened their eyes. Or How about Jerri stuck in the station of Roger Rabbit when the ride went down for a station backup.


The trip was full of memories like those, and I am glad I had at least one more chance to get to a theme park with my grandmother. I have fond memories of going with her as a child and in a way it was like reliving those memories. I'm hoping we'll get a chance to see more of California Adventure and Downtown Disney soon. They all seem up to it, and it beats just heading to a regular mall.


I'll try and get approval to put more pictures up on the web, but there was some negative feelings about how realistic the photos were.

The car saga continues....It will happen this month, just not sure when. I am still shopping around, plus there are a few contacts up the sleeve that might get me a better deal. Plus, the longer I wait, I am sure the less markup and competition for the car there will be. The only drawback is that I want to reduce my expenses ASAP, but thankfully, everything has leveled off and it wont hurt to wait a bit.


I really like what the Star Wars people are doing with their website. I like how when you reload it is basically the same site, yet with a different color scheme. If I get some free time, I want to try it here at Club Josh.


Free time might be a bit hard to come by since next week I have this wonderful Grad Night shift at the Park: 23:15 to 5:15, and Star Wars opens and I plan to see the midnight showing. By the following weekend, my internal clock will be all messed up.

Try as I did, I was thwarted last night from seeing Spider-Man with Roger, Alex, Michael and Ian. We managed to get out of bed this morning to go see the movie at 10am (well all but Ian since he went with some friends last night to try and see it at Downtown Disney - I'll have to check and see if he was able to get tickets). Even the 10am showing was almost sold out - at least it was the bargain matinee.


The movie itself was pretty good for the most part. Solid acting and a decent story line. The movie did have a feel of massive computer generation to it, especially in the scenes when Toby is flying through the city. You fans of the original Spiderman cartoon need to watch the closing credits for a special surprise. I was ready to bolt, but someone told me to stick around and I was pleasantly rewarded.


I got to thinking that this year looks to be pretty promising in terms of the number of movies I am interested in seeing. The last few years have been pretty ick. So far the movies I want to see are: Star Wars Episode II, The Sum of All Fears, Lilo and Stitch, Minority Report, Goldmember, Men in Black 2, Die Another Day, Star Trek Nemesis. On the back burner, but definitely on my radar: Signs and Scooby Doo.


I am so over those flash ads that come up on the screen when I am on certain web sites. Yahoo and Movies.com are two that were particularly annoying. Especially when I am trying to type in something into a web form and it gets interrupted by an ad for Pop Secret popcorn. When I am on my laptop, those ads ground my processor to a halt so that I can't do anything else. Remember when the web use to be user friendly?

Well I never did make it over to Internet World. Haim gave me the scoop, and I ran out of time to get over to the convention center. I have been out-of-sorts since Friday. I hate working at two different jobs in one day. It feels like two full days on one nights sleep. Going out on Saturday night didn't help. Well, it did help in that it was the most fun I have had going out in awhile. I was not really in the mood to go out, but after some prodding I had a great time. It was a good combination of company and music. The worst part about club music is sometimes you hear a really groovy (yes I said groovy) song, and there is no way you will ever know what it is. It took me almost two years to track down the last club song I really liked.


I had Sunday and Monday off of work and it was nice to relax. We did make it out to Timothy's 16th Birthday Bash and the rib joint in Glendora. For his birthday, I gave him a copy of L.A. Bizarro, a book that all people in LA should own. I figured it was a bit more interesting guide to LA than most, and since he will be out and about exploring on his own, he might as well find some weird and bizarre stuff.


I have had some issues with my DSL over the last few days. When I want it the most, it just isn't working. Then I have to sit around for an hour or so and hope it comes back. Last night, I even tried to bypass the DSL and use my wonderful Pac Bell dialup account (free for DSL customers!), and yup, it was not working either. Me suspects they have larger network issues than just DSL problems. Hopefully, I can get some answers soon, and it doesn't turn into another Earthlink fiasco.