OK... WHAT ELSE?

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

We're going on a car trip tomorrow to Carmel to see Becca's sister and brother.

The car we were going to drive is in the shop. It may or may not be done by tonight. The other car has no AC - fine for short trips around San Diego, but not for long drives. We reserved a rental car as a backup, but the rental car place closes at 5. I have meetings till 5:30.

Just before camp, I tried to take some photos with the digital camera and discovered it's broken. On the way to drop the kids off at camp, I knocked my knee into the speaker on the passenger side door and broke off the screeny looking thingie. The camp just called me to say that Becca was stung by a bee.

I'm not going to walk under any ladders...

FATHER'S DAY REVISITED

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Here's our videos from the Del Mar Fair... ah I can still smell the funnel cake.

The best entertainment wasn't really planned. It was the poor saps trying to control the ostrich that broke loose. I'm not sure the arm-waving is so effective. I think the ostrich just has to get exhausted and resigned to capture on its own before any containment is really possible. Still, I suppose they felt like they were helping...

Music: Put on Your Sunday Clothes, from "Hello Dolly" (Streisand/Crawford)

WHERE WILL YOU RELOCATE?

Friday, July 18, 2008

Don found this unbelievably funny piece - and I laughed so hard at some of it, I had to post it. The California one is completely 100% true. The Midwest one does NOT apply to Chicago - I think we should write one just for Chicago!

You can live in Phoenix, Arizona where.....

1. You are willing to park 3 blocks away because you found shade.
2. You've experienced condensation on your butt from the hot water in the toilet bowl.
3. You can drive for 4 hours in one direction and never leave town.
4. You have over 100 recipes for Mexican food
5. You know that 'dry heat' is comparable to what hits you in the face when you open your oven door.
6. The 4 seasons are: tolerable, hot, really hot, and ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!

You can live in California where.....

1. You make over $250,000 and you still can't afford to buy a house.
2. The fastest part of your commute is going down your driveway.
3. You know how to eat an artichoke.
4. You drive your rented Mercedes to your neighborhood block party.
5. When someone asks you how far something is, you tell them how long it will take to get there rather than how many miles away it is.
6. The 4 seasons are: Fire, Flood, Mud, and Drought.

You can live in New York City where...

1. You say 'the city' and expect everyone to know you mean Manhattan.
2. You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from Columbus Circle to Battery Park, but can't find Wisconsin on a map.
3. You think Central Park is 'nature'.
4. You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multi-lingual.
5. You've worn out a car horn.
6. You think eye contact is an act of aggression.

You can live in Minnesota where...

1. You only have four spices: salt, pepper, ketchup, and Tabasco.
2. Halloween costumes fit over parkas.
3. You have more than one recipe for moose.
4. Sexy lingerie is anything flannel with less than eight buttons.
5. The four seasons are: winter, still winter, almost winter, and construction.

You can live in the Deep South where...

1. You can rent a movie and buy bait in the same store.
2. 'y'all' is singular and 'all y'all' is plural.
3. 'He needed killin'' is a valid defense.
4. Everyone has 2 first names: Billy Bob , Jimmy Bob, Mary Sue, Betty Jean, MARY BETH, etc.

You can live in Colorado where....

1. You carry your $3,000 mountain bike atop your $500 car.
2. You tell your husband to pick up Granola on his way home and he stops at the day care center.
3. A pass does not involve a football or dating.
4. The top of your head is bald, but you still have a pony tail.

You can live in the Midwest where...

1. You've never met any celebrities, but the mayor knows your name.
2. Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor.
3. You have had to switch from 'heat' to 'A/C' on the same day.
4. You end sentences with a preposition: 'Where's my coat at?'
5. When asked how your trip was to any exotic place, you say, 'It was different!'

And you can live in Florida where...

1. You eat dinner at 3:15 in the afternoon.
2. All purchases include a coupon of some kind -- even houses and cars.
3. Everyone can recommend an excellent dermatologist.
4. Road construction never ends anywhere in the state.
5. Cars in front of you are often driven by headless people.

75 YEARS OF STANDING REAAAALLLLY STILL

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Went to Pageant of the Masters today and met up with my friend Laura there.
http://www.foapom.com/site/overview_pom.asp

It is a live theater event where people act out famous paintings. It's really hard to describe so I'll show you.


Famous poster to the left being re-enacted through art and live performers below.














So they set up a scene and then light it and it looks freakishly 2-dimensional somehow and the orchestra plays some music while you say "wouldalookatthat??" to your neighbor. I don't have a clue how the people stand still for that long. When I was getting married, I had to stand still for awhile and I swear, everything itched. My nose itched and then my shoulder itched and I couldn't scratch because, well, who wants an itchy bride? I have to think these people get cramps and itches up there.

And then every once in awhile they'll have some other aspect of live performance - like a singer to accompany the orchestra, in costume that matches the period of the picture you're looking at - so there you are looking at some renaissance painting thing and the orchestra is playing and some gal is out there dressed like Bo Peep and belting out a song about older men and younger women and you're thinking... last time I had Nyquil, I dreamed something real close to this. Only Bo Peep was my aunt in the dream.

We ran into my friends Chris and Allison and their kids. They put forth a very sound theory for the origin of this Pageant. Many years ago a bunch of very expensive-wine-drunken people were hanging around Orange County and said HEY! LET'S ACT OUT FAMOUS PAINTINGS! (being the Orange County hooligans they were) There happened to be a sober Republican among them that figured they could probably charge money for this. And hence was born a long tradition of spraypainting volunteer citizens gold and making them hold up huge lit balls for 5 minutes at a shot.

I have had a summer chock full of unique art experiences. In Missouri in the resort we visited a couple weeks ago, there was lots of taxidermy. Including a badger that seemed to be smiling.

Yes this is also art. It's a dead animal that is now inanimate art, posed as if it's still living.

Pageant of the Masters is live people who are imitating inanimate art.

There were some Pageant scenes that were poses of Shakespearean play scenes. That's living people imitating art that's depicting live theater.

My head hurts from that last one.

Finally, I offer you my best idea of the night: an idea for a CSI episode inspired by Pageant of the Masters.

Think about it.