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.