IT WILL HAVE BEEN A LONG, LONELY, LONELY, LONELY, LONELY TIME

Another exciting thing I did this past weekend was to take a short walk to the local watch repair store and have a new battery replaced in an old watch of mine.  The people at the store were very nice and installed the battery very quickly.  Upon payment, I was presented with the following card:

Similar to the car wash or yogurt stamp card concept, if I buy six batteries I get the seventh one for free.

By my estimation I should be able to take advantage of this in about twenty years.  I may have to put this card in our safety deposit box so I don't miss out.  I look forward to coming back to the store for my free battery in 2030.

A GREAT RETURN

There wasn't much going on this past weekend so I made another trip to the library on Saturday and borrowed another book.  Since I read The Tipping Point in four days I wanted to get something that would last me a little longer (a thicker book).  I chose the autobiography of one of my favorite athletes of all time, ANDRE AGASSI.

Known for his once long flowing hair, flamboyant outfits and short marriage to Brooke Shields, Agassi was possibly the greatest returner in tennis history and ultimately retired in 2006 as one of the all-time greats.

This was a great book.  Too great in fact that I read it in three days.  So much for longevity.

I did learn quite a few things about Agassi:

- He beat the football great Jim Brown in straight sets at a local club when he was nine years old.  Agassi's father won $500 from Brown on the match.

- He started losing his hair at seventeen and actually wore a hairpiece for most of his early matches.

- He never really wanted to marry Brooke Shields.

- He went through depression and used crystal meth for a while.

- The Andre Agassi Foundation for Education has raised $75 million to provide education for disadvantaged youth.

- He HATES tennis.

The book is also full of anecdotes from childhood to adulthood and introspective details from many of his matches.  A very easy read about a very interesting life.

A GOOD TIP

This past Sunday I went to a place long forgotten in this age of Kindle and iPads: The Library.

I was thinking that instead of accumulating books that I would eventually "get to", it was better to borrow a book and in essence be forced to read it in an allotted amount of time.  It's also absolutely free so even if the book turned out to be terrible I could just close it and bring it right back where it came from.  We should all have a library card.

My first borrowed book...

The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell is a psychological and social study of how change happens due to ideas and behavior acting like epidemics.  It's an easy read and not very long at under 300 pages.  Interesting stuff.  Available to borrow for free at your local library.

FLOWERS FOR MY LOVE...

 

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME...

Last night I went with some friends to the Dodgers game against the hated San Francisco Giants.  It was a beautiful evening and the weather was great.

The Giants got an early leg up on the Dodgers...

And the Dodgers tried to fight back with a homerun from Rafael Furcal...

Furcal actually hit his home run during this at-bat.  Sadly, it wasn't enough as the Dodgers lost 5-2.  This was not an unexpected result since the Dodgers WILL NEVER WIN ANYTHING as long as they are owned by Frank McCourt.  Do us Dodger fans a favor and sell the team Frank.

Fortunately for us, the evening wasn't a total loss as we were graced by the presence of the legendary JACKIE ROBINSON who just seems to get better with age...

FELIZ NAVIDAD... IN JULY

This past Saturday evening I joined my family at a little hole in the wall restaurant for dinner.  Take a wild guess on what type of cuisine we had.

We started off with sangria...

And followed it up with some tapas...

 

And finished it off with a big paella...

The food was good and I enjoyed it even though the restaurant had mixed martial arts on the TV the entire time.  This was an intriguing choice for ambience.  Must be a Spanish thing.

I also noticed the tablecloth that the restaurant was using on our table...

 

Yes, that would be a snowman, a candle, a stocking, a Christmas tree and Santa Claus.  In July.  It was ONE HUNDRED DEGREES outside.

And how about Santa's new look with the sunglasses and the dark beard?  Those Spaniards sure are a stylish bunch.

A FINE INVESTMENT

Proving that consistency is not always a good thing, it was again a sizzling 100 degrees out this Saturday.  I decided to stay cool and went to what my wife and I refer to as the "Cheapo" theater.  Others may know it as a second-run movie house.

Unlike someone I know who could afford to spend $20.00 to see the excellent INCEPTION, I decided to go down a more frugal route.  For the staggering fee of $2.00 I spent almost two and a half hours watching the excellent Swedish film THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO...

Based on the novel by the late Stieg Larsson, the film is entirely in Swedish with English subtitles and was shot in Stockholm and other parts of Sweden (in keeping with the Swedish theme).  A suspenseful murder mystery, it flowed very nicely and was quite unpredictable.  And yes, there was a reference to meatballs in the movie.  However, there was no mention of IKEA whatsoever.

It will be out on DVD soon and is worth checking out.

FARMING IT OUT

On another blisteringly hot evening, I took a little trip to the neighborhood Farmer's market.

Since it was right around dinner time, I picked up a grilled corn on the cob while I decided what to have for my main meal.

After much thought and consideration I ended up with a tri-tip sandwich hot off the grill.

Though I did not eat all of the bread, the beef was nice and tender and made for an enjoyable meal.  That said, I should have put a little more mustard on it. 

In honor of my wife, I topped the evening off by taking a quick stroll to Menchie's, one of those self-serve, pay by the weight yogurt places.

 I did a little cappuccino and vanilla mixture and topped it off with some chopped almonds.

This picture was taken after I had sampled the concoction.  Overall, it was pretty tasty and a place that the wife and I will surely be visiting upon her return.


This evening however, I enjoyed my yogurt with a new (extremely large) friend I made at Menchie's...

GOOD STUFF...

One thing to keep in mind should you decide to go see Christopher Nolan's INCEPTION this weekend:

PAY ATTENTION!

LAST NIGHT...

AND "RISKY BUSINESS" WAS SO PROMISING...

My wife is a GREAT dancer.  I am a terrible dancer.  However, I'd like to think I can do better than this:

A WELCOME DISCOVERY DURING THE WORLD CUP

I went to visit my parents today and watch the World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands.  It was not the prettiest or most exciting football match to watch.

However, it was fun listening to my Pops complain about how boring it was and how there were so many opporunities blown by these supposedly superstar players.  In the end, Andres Iniesta scored the winning goal with four seconds left in the second extra time to give Spain it's first ever World Cup championship.

I was pulling for Spain so the day was going well.  And then it got even better.

One of the things my wife and I have in common is a love for ice cream.  We've tried about every brand and type of ice cream all around the world.  That said, one of our reliable brands is good old Haagen-Dazs.  And like I said, things got even better ...

I had heard that Haagen-Dazs had green tea as a flavor but for some reason it's not that easy to find at the grocery store.  My Pops stumbled upon it and had bought a pint.  As far as I was concerned it was a perfect way to end the World Cup.

A TASTE OF DENMARK

This Saturday my friend Rick and I ended up in Solvang, a small city about 115 miles north of Los Angeles.

According to Wikipedia, Solvang was founded by Dutch educators in 1911 and most of the city features traditional Danish architecture. There are also many restaurants, bakeries and shops offering Danish and other Scandinavian fare. Most of the movie "Sideways" was also filmed here.

One of the first things we saw upon entering the city limits was the Viking Motel:

This pretty much fits right in with the Danish theme. However, the entrance to the motel caught my attention...

Now, I'm no scholar but as far as I know the Vikings never made it to China during their years of pillaging. How exactly do the two Foo Dogs guarding the entrance to the Viking Motel equate to anything remotely Viking, Danish or Scandinavian? And no, I don't think the fact that they're white qualifies.

We were both very hungry by the time we got to Solvang so we decided to have lunch at the Heidelberg Inn.

I had the Bratwurst (they also serve German food) Sausage Plate.

Being the amateur foodies that we are, my wife always likes to take pictures of our dishes right before we dig in. She understands that the presentation is also part of what makes food great.

With this in mind, I had planned on taking a picture of the sausage plate once it arrived. I was unfortunately thwarted by two things : my hunger and my bad memory.

As you can see, the meal was quite good. Sadly, my wife will have to imagine a whole sausage and a few more potatoes. I added the mustard right before I started eating.

Now, since I will probably make a return trip here with my wife, it was important to test out the other things Solvang had to offer...

In keeping with the Danish theme, I decided on a cheese danish.

Rick had apparently saved a substantial amount of room for dessert and had a blueberry danish and a raspberry danish. A double taste of Denmark.

After enjoying these pastries we walked around to check out the scene. It was a sunny day and it was busy with tourists from all over the world (we heard at least five different languages spoken besides English). Overall, Solvang is a nice place to visit with good food and interesting sights. And did I mention the windmills?

LEVI'S: A JAPANESE CLASSIC

Levi's Japan is releasing a limited edition run of jeans they conceived for Seattle Mariners baseball superstar Ichiro Suzuki.

These will be sold in limited quantities exclusively in Japan and retails for 34,650 Japanese Yen or approximately $392 US dollars.

Now the price of jeans nowadays don't shock me anymore. What intrigues me here is the way the jeans are rolled up. Is this how they are meant to be worn?

Upon further research, perhaps Ichiro is simply used to this length in his pants and does not want to sacrifice comfort away from the field?

I must admit, these would look great with black socks.

I can't wait to see what Levi's China will do with the Yao Ming Limited Edition Jeans.

Jackie Chan not included.

THE KING AND THE KINGS

I listen to sports-talk radio on my drive home from work. Tonight's big event was "The Decision" where the supposed greatest free agent in NBA history was announcing which team he was going sign with.


You've probably all heard by now that "The King" LeBron James has decided to leave Cleveland to play with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. Dan Gilbert, the owner of his now former team the Cavaliers is apparently a little upset with the King's decision based on this letter he wrote to Cavs fans.

While I understand that we all need to vent every now and then, this is a complete waste of time and energy on Mr. Gilbert's part. Instead, he should relax and calm his anger by picturing positive and happy images. He can start with this one:

IN THE MEANTIME, lost in all this hoopla is the cool sport of hockey where the NHL is also having their free agency period. Don't worry, nobody else knew either.

In a story I've been following, the Los Angeles Kings have been pursuing this year's premiere free agent, a forward named Ilya Kovalchuk:

Mr. Kovalchuk scores a lot of goals and could potentially make the Kings a Stanley Cup (that's Championship to all non-hockey followers) contender. The Kings have reportedly offered a 13 year $84.5 million contract. The problem is that Mr. Kovalchuk is insisting on at least a 10 year $100 million contract.

I'm not sure what the outcome of this will be but perhaps I shouldn't have been so happy with the $50 a week raise I received three years ago.