Family bonding
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 10:41 PM: I've spent the past four years of my life in LA, and though the fact that the social scene here thrives on superficiality, my most recent experience just made me all warm and fuzzy on the inside.  Recently, I was walking through UCLA on a sunny saturday afternoon when i finally spotted the rare familicus disfunctionaliticus.  It was a beautiful sight...cause in all my years in LA, i havent seen one. 

In front of me i saw this couple walking hand and hand through campus...the guy, in his mid 40s, the wife/mistress/lover/massage therapist ( a stunning tall blond with a huge pair of......lets just say, non-biodegradable head turners) and a small child in tow.  Except, it wasnt the parents who were towing him, but the nanny.  Oh yes, i could feel the family love.  The parents just went on their merry way while the nanny, in a very loving manner, played and scolded the kid.  I think maybe once the parents looked to make sure the child was breathing, but other than that......you wouldnt think it was their child.  After wiping away the tears of joy that i shed after experiencing that magical family moment, i walked away thinking, god bless plastic surgery.     
(0 comments , 20706 views)

Large Sunglasses
Monday, October 16, 2006 11:39 PM: As of late, I've noticed the trend that a new fashion trend has been creeping into our culture.  I'm talking about the oversized sunglasses.  When I intially saw them in public, I thought the girls who were wearing them were trying to dress up like TLC ( if you dont know what im talking about, I refer you to the music video " I aint to proud to beg" or something like that).  But no, I was mistaken.  Whenever I talk to a girl with these huge sunglasses, i get the unsettling feeling that im talking to a pair of sunglasses with lips.  Now normally I dont have an opinion on fashion items....i mean for god sakes, the most fashionable thing i wore in the past 5 days is a pair of jeans and a sweater.  But my problem is this.......it makes girls decievingly hot.

Situation:

You see this girl with the sunglasses, and it immediatly makes them hot...you go over and strike up a conversation ( Ive heard thats what you do with girls, i wouldnt personally know), and then like mid to end-conversation they take off their sunglasses and suddenly youre in a bar at closing time.  All guys ( and girls) know this feeling.  Its the feeling when the lights turn on in a bar and this thought goes through your head........good god (look of horror on your face), is THAT what ive been talking to all night.  It's that feeling, that has been until now, has been confined to drunken stupidity in the wee hours of the moroning.  But now its been moved into everyday life.  Anyways, I guess I should be happy that its only sunglasses...I hear next years fashion trend is going to be covering your head with a large bag with a Question mark written on it.
(2 comments , 20848 views)

Traffic nightmare
Tuesday, March 28, 2006 12:15 PM: The traffic in LA is just terrible.  I had to grab a flight on Friday out of LAX which was at 6:10 p.m.  I figured that if i left at 4:00 i should make it with plenty of time...no check in bagggage, and i already had the e-ticket.  So i left at 4.....and i almost missed my flight.  This is because it took and hour and a half to get to LAX.  Mind you, i was coming from westwood which is 11 miles away from the airport.  That means i was going, on average, about 8 miles per hour or so..ON ThE FREAKING FREEWAY.  I feel the only way to alleviate this traffic problem is to start driving hover cars....either that or an intelligent mass transit system.  Being LA, its more probable that the hover cars will come first/
(1 comment , 21918 views)

Social Conservatives and Cancer
Monday, October 31, 2005 5:18 PM: When it comes to politics and setting social policies, I try to keep an open mind.  I define my self as a moderate, but i'll hear out a conservatives point of view and attempt to not have a knee-jerk reaction of immediatly scoffing at what they have to say.  But sometimes, those right wing social conservatives just drive me absolutly nuts and need to be punched in the head.....not to hurt them mind you (though thatis a positive side effect), but hopefully knock some sense into them.  Where is this tirade coming from.....Well here it is.

Recently, Merck and GlaxoSmith Kline have come out with a vaccine for certain strains of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) which has been strongly corellated to certain types of cervical cancers.  Now the way this virus is generally transmitted is through sex (certain strains cause genital warts...if that helps anyone identify with the virus.)  Now you would think that the reaction across the political spectrum would be, " GREAT....we have found a vaccine for a horrible cancer."  But nooooo.....the right wing conservatives are acutally hestitant about making this a mandatory vaccine for teenage girls because they believe it promotes promscuity.  They believe that kids will believe that because they are immunized against this HPV, it will give them the green light to have sex.  Ok....now this might be a news flash to social conservatives, but that most likely is not a hot topic between two teenagers about to have sex.  I think they believe the conservation might go like this between kids:

Sam:  Susie, I really want to bang you but im scared of giving you the strain of the HPV that will lead to you having an increased risk of cervical cancer.

Susie:  Oh dont worry Sam, those suckers i call parents immunized me against the starins 6,11,16 and 18 of the HPV virus, so im free to have cazy sex.

Sam:  Really, damn in that case i dont even need a condom since the transmission of the HPV was my primary concern and not things like pregancy, AIDS and the strains of HPV that cause genital warts.

These Right-wingers are like a horny teenager who has been locked away from girls for the past 10 years and just let loose and will bang anything with two legs and a hole.  The minute anything linked to sex pops up, they attack it without thinking.  If they decided to use the part of their brain that isnt being occupied by thoughts of anit-abortion and anti-gay marriage (granted this is 99% of their brain function) they would see that

1.) Curing Cancer is generally  seen as GOOD
2.) This vaccine doesnt stop all types of HPV (there are like 70 strains out there)...so they can  vaccinate their kids and still scare them out having sex by saying they can still spread STDs. So everyone wins.




(1 comment , 22903 views)

Weekend O' New stuff
Monday, April 11, 2005 5:28 PM:

So i had a pretty eventful weekend.  For the last month or so i have been setting up my apt or working or doing some crap like that, but this weekend was an eventful one.  On saturday night Me and my friend went to Pechanga on a whim.  For those whos dont know what Pechanga is, it is the Native Americans gift to the white man of california: Indian Casino.  So this was the first time i had ever been to an indian casion, and i have to say i was impressed.  They definetly have really put alot of effor to make the place look like a vegas style casino.  From the buffet to clubs to the oh so good gambling, it was all there.  There are just a couple of differences.  One difference, which wasnt a big deal, were the drinks werent free at the tables....you gotta pay.  Two big differences were the way they play craps and roulette.  I guess because of some law, you cant play dice games or some crap like that in california...hell if i know ( If anyone knows the real reason, id like to know.)  Nonetheless, in roulette the whole thing is automatic.  You have to sit down and on a touchpad, put down your "chips" on the numbers you want.  Then a machine spits a ball out on an already rotating wheel....LAME.  Even more lame though is craps.  Since there is no dice, you sit there and place your bets, and then dealer who has two decks in front of him flips one card from each deck and that is the value of the "roll".  Usually Craps tables are exctitng places where people are all into it..........EXACT opposite in this case.  I mean how do you get into someone flipping a card.  Nonetheless, blackjack was cool and i came up 40 bucks, so i cant complain.

On sunday i went golfing for the first time.  I mean it was like a beginners course, (Par 3 max), but for my skill level it worked out great.  I actually golfed 18 holes, and i had a good time.  My final score was 42 over....I think im ready for the Masters personally.  All in All, It was a good weekend, back to work...hoorah.

Cookie Cutter
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 4:58 PM: So my apt is slowly coming together ( note too self-----Next time i think of moving, opt for shoving a red hot poker into my eye.  Most likely more fun) and as i step back and look at it, im reminded of fight club.  You know in the opening scenes when Ed Nortons character is walking around his apt and you basically see all the Ikea prices popping up, and his apt looks like page whatever from the catalog.  yeah, well that is basically my apt.  It's kinda of sad.  I mean i live in the cultural mecca that is LA, and yet i opt out for conformity.  I think it is pure laziness that has driven me to Ikea, and not all the ecclectic furniture shops that exist in LA.  I mean, its so damn convienient to shop at Ikea.  Nonetheless, at least my apt is coming together and doesnt look like a tornado tore through it.  On another note, i went to the best sushi place today for lunch.  If you are ever in LA, and are a sushi fan, you gotta go to this place calle Katsu-ya.  It's up in studio city pff of ventura blvd, and it is the best sushi i have ever eaten.  A bit pricey, so it is definetly a novelty place......but still, youll be happy that you went there.  make sure to book in advance cause the place gets crowded fast.  (1 comment , 30389 views)

Moving Time
Friday, March 18, 2005 4:26 PM: So this weekend Im movin.....hopefully.  I am praying that it is not going to rain for like a couple of hours so i can move the bigger items i have....also i have my free labor ( i.e. john and art) for only a couple of hours.  So im moving to a quiter neighborhood.  Yet another sign of my aging.  My current apt is on a major road and my neighbors fight like cats and dogs, two things i severly want to change.  When youre an undergrad, this is an optimal situation.  It means that you can party any day of the week and no one will ever complain about the noise.  But being in grad school and all ive realized that i dont lead the most exciting life.  Granted i do go out on a friday or sautrday night......but sun-thursday i need my peace and quiet.  So yes, im moving to a nice one bedroom place that is several blocks off of any major roads.  (0 comments , 30523 views)

Darwin Awards
Wednesday, December 01, 2004 4:00 PM:

These are always funny....

>In case you have been waiting breathlessly for this

>year's Darwin Awards, here they are. The awards this

>year are, once again, truly classic. These awards are

>given each year to bestow upon that individual, who

>through single-minded self-sacrifice, has done the

>most to remove undesirable elements from the human

>gene pool. Just think...until these events, these same

>people were walking the streets like normal people.

>

>5th RUNNER-UP: Goes to a San Anselmo, California man

>who died when he hit a lift tower at the Mammoth

>Mountain ski area while riding down the slope on a

>foam pad. 22-year-old David Hubal was pronounced dead

>at Central Mammoth Hospital. The accident occurred

>about 3 a.m., the Mono County Sheriff's department

>said. Hubal and his friends apparently had hiked up a

>ski run called Stump alley and undid some yellow foam

>protectors from lift towers, said Lt. Mike Donnelly of

>the Mammoth Lakes Police Department. The pads are used

>to protect skiers who might hit towers. The group

>apparently used the pads to slide down the ski slope

>and Hubal crashed into a tower. It has since been

>investigated and determined the tower he hit was the

>one with its pad removed.

>

>4th RUNNER-UP: Goes to Robert Puelo, 32, who was

>apparently being disorderly in a St. Louis market.

>When the clerk threatened to call the police, Puelo

>grabbed a hot dog, shoved it into his mouth and walked

>out without paying. Police found him unconscious in

>front of the store. Paramedics removed the six-inch

>wiener from his throat where it had choked him to

>death.

>

>3rd RUNNER-UP: Goes to poacher Marino Malerba of

>Spain, who shot a stag standing above him on an

>overhanging rock and was killed instantly when it fell

>on him.

>

>2nd RUNNER-UP: "Man loses face at party." A man at a

>West Virginia party (probably related to the winner

>last year, a man in Arkansas who used a 22 bullet to

>replace the fuse in his pickup truck) popped a

>blasting cap into his mouth and bit down, triggering

>an explosion that blew off his lips, teeth, and

>tongue. Jerry Stromyer, 24, of Kincaid, bit the

>blasting cap as a prank during the party late Tuesday

>night, said Cpl. M.D. Payne. "Another man had it in an

>aquarium hooked to a battery and was trying to explode

>it. It wouldn't go off and this guy said "I'll show

>you how to set it off."" He put it into his mouth, bit

>down and it blew all his teeth out and his lips and

>tongue off, Payne said. Stromyer was listed in guarded

>condition Wednesday with extensive facial injuries,

>according to a spokesperson at Charleston Area Medical

>Division. "I just can't imagine anyone doing something

>like that," Payne said.

>

>1st RUNNER-UP: Doctors at Portland University Hospital

>said an Oregon man shot through the skull by a hunting

>arrow is lucky to be alive and will be released soon

>from the hospital. Tony Roberts, 25, lost his right

>eye last weekend during an initiation into a men's

>rafting club, Mountain Men Anonymous (probably known

>now as Stupid Mountain Men Anonymous) in Grants Pass,

>Oregon. A friend tried to shoot a beer can off his

>head, but the arrow entered Robert's right eye.

>Doctors said that had the arrow gone 1 millimeter to

>the left, a major blood vessel would have been cut and

>Roberts would have died instantly. Neurosurgeon Doctor

>Johnny Delashaw at the University Hospital in Portland

>said the arrow went through 8 to 10 inches of brain

>with the tip protruding at the rear of his skull, yet

>somehow managed to miss all major blood vessels.

>Delashaw also said that had Roberts tried to pull the

>arrow out on his own he surely would have killed

>himself.

>

>Now, THIS YEAR'S WINNER: (The late) John Pernicky and

>his friend, (the late) Sal Hawkins, of the great state

>of Washington, decided to attend a local Metallica

>concert at the George, Washington, amphitheater.

>Having no tickets (but having had 18 beers between

>them), they thought it would be easy to "hop" over the

>nine-foot fence and sneak into the show. They pulled

>their pickup truck over to the fence and the plan was

>for Mr. Pernicky (who was 100 pounds heavier than Mr.

>Hawkins) to hop the fence and then assist his friend

>over. Unfortunate for (the late) Mr. Pernicky, there

>was a 30-foot drop on the other side of the fence.

>Having heaved himself over, he found himself crashing

>through a tree. His fall was abruptly halted (and

>broken, along with his arm) by a large branch that

>snagged him by his shorts. Dangling from the tree with

>a broken arm, he looked down and saw some bushes below

>him. Possibly figuring the bushes would break his

>fall, he removed his pocket knife and proceeded to cut

>away his shorts to free himself from the tree. Finally

>free, Mr. Pernicky crashed into holly bushes. The

>sharp leaves scratched his ENTIRE body and now,

>without the protection of his shorts, a holly branch

>penetrated his rectum. To make matters worse, on

>landing his pocket knife penetrated his thigh.

>Hawkins, seeing his friend in considerable pain and

>agony, threw him a rope and tried to pull him to

>safety by tying the rope to the pickup truck and

>slowly driving away. However, in his drunken

>haste/state, he put the truck into reverse and crashed

>through the fence landing on his friend and killing

>him. Police arrived to find the crashed pickup with

>its driver thrown 100 feet from the truck and dead at

>the scene from massive internal injuries. Upon moving

>the truck, they found John under it half-naked,

>scratches on his body, a holly stick in his rectum, a

>knife in his thigh, and his shorts dangling from a

>tree branch 25 feet in the air.

>

>Congratulations, gentlemen, you win.

Fashionable socks?
Monday, September 27, 2004 11:27 PM: So when the hell did socks become a fashion statement.  Recently i have been heckled by my friends for wearing tube socks with my shorts.  I  mean there not like they are out of control high, but they are like regular socks.  Nonetheless, i was heckled....comments such as youre a pocket protector away from being a full nerd and.....hey, its steve urkels stunt double were  used to describe........so yes, i caved in and bought the freakin  socks that dont show above the shoes line.......so aside from the glasses and the fact i work in a lab, i think im one step closer to being "hip" as the youngsters would say.  (1 comment , 41707 views)

Weekend update
Sunday, September 12, 2004 10:51 PM:

So this weekend was a little change from the norm.  Since it was Arthurs birthday, we actually partied down in Laguna Hills instead of the standard LA fare.  Now there arent too many places in Laguna to party.  Its a nice place and all, but it is definetly an older community.  Nonetheless, we went to a place called Club M.  Nice place, It is actually a sushi bar that has a club unpstairs.  So we all ate sushi, got ridicuosly drunk doing sake-bombs and then went to the club.  The place was pretty cool, but the aftermath was not good at all.  Lets just say there was alot of vomit and diving into pavement involved ( due to tripping).  Also, there was some trouble with the Law.....which we all feel bad about and are really sorry that it went down.  But other than that, Happy birthday arthur. 

The rest of the weekend was pretty chill.  Im still taking those tabla lessons that i spoke about earlier.  While im no where close to being good, i do see an improvement from my first lesson.  My instructor is pretty happy with my progress.  Luckily due to the fact that i played drums for five years, i dont have a rhythm problem.....which is usually one of the biggest hurdles to jump in drumming.  So all i have to focus on is the different hand positions and techniques that go along with the tabla.  Not an easy task, but im really enjoying it, and i think within in a year, ill be bearable to listen to.

Oh yes...and another example of how this is such a small world.  I actually know a med student who was on grenada ( the island that got hit by hurricane Ivan).  Basically it was a terrifying expereince and the whole island is just in shambles.  Nonetheless, med school is kinda of on hiatus for the time being and she is back in the states.  WELCOME BACK.....wish it was on better circumstances, but still....it'll be good to see you.  Aight all, i shall update later....

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