What’s Going On?

Throughout 2009 there were so many things that I’ve been experienced and have been challenged with and I can’t say enough about how much I appreciate the friends that I do have. The support network is just amazing and I hope that it will only get better and better in 2010. Having been able to meet up for a potluck and to be in the midst of good people have truly been a blessing.

While enjoying great company, we had the opportunity to watch some basketball and Elf on the television. The most important part of the evening was the food. There was so much good food at the party that I could not stop myself from getting seconds. I think the food item that I had to go back for was the fried chicken. There’s something about KFC’s original receipe chicken that makes my mouth water. I think it’s because of all the delicious herbs and spices that they have, I think MSG is one of their secret spices too. haha

After eating the delicious dinner a few people played Settler’s of Catan, which is one of my most favorite games in the world. I love the game so much I even wrote a little blog on it earlier this year. The rest of my friends just watched the rest of Elf. That happens to be one of the best holiday films that can be entertaining to watch any time of the year.

Overall, the dinner was a great wrap-up of 2009 and just things to be thankful for. I cannot believe that the year has come and gone so fast and that 2010 is quickly approaching. I just hope that throughtout the next year that things could only get better.

Pictures of the potluck can be seen by clicking on the picture link above. Please feel free to leave me a comment or donation below for the pictures and/or the posting.

I wrote a post back in May about a show I saw on Memorial Day weekend. The night featured the following performers: Rumor Has It Improv Troupe, Dave Thomason, Thursprov, Stephen Kalmakis, and hoboFish. To read more about this topic please click here.

Pictures of the hoboFish and Friends can be seen by clicking on the picture link above. Please feel free to leave me a comment or donation below for the pictures and/or the posting.

For Veterans Day, in honor of U.S. military soldiers either active, retired or who passed in battle or other lines of duty I want to thank all of you for your honorable service to this country. Without your contribution to backing our government we would have not been able to be where we are today. Continue to fight for our country and know that you are and will be remembered. Thank you so much.

I know it won’t mean probably too much to my normal readers, but to my veteran and active duty soldiers, I met four soldiers having a picnic together right next to the Battle of the Bulge monument near the Jefferson Barracks Cemetery in St. Louis and they seemed to be having a wonderful time together talking about the past and present. These four men never fought side by side with each other, but what they did share in common was being able to survive and be apart of an amazing victory for the Allied troops during the Battle of the Bulge of World War II. As I was asking a few questions, one of the veterans mentioned to me that the winter of 1944-45 was probably one of the coldest he’s ever experienced and that the frigid weather made it really hard on his body and to fight. For their valiant and courage I give them praise. They were out numbered by the Germans, but they were able to overcome the, I believe he said, 6 German to 1 Allied soldier.

I wrote about Memorial Day several months ago and I would like to share with you readers some pictures I took while with a friend in memoriam of those that have fallen for our country whether in battle or while back in our homeland.

Pictures of my Memorial Day tribute can be seen by clicking on the picture link above. Please feel free to leave me a comment or donation below for the pictures and/or the posting.

When it comes to baby showers, I tend to think of a bunch of women sitting around a room eating small sandwiches, scones, and sipping tea. However, I attended Adrian and Genese’s baby shower and it was everything except the stereotype. Having not been to a full blown all out baby shower, this shower was probably one of the most entertaining and enjoyable festive celebrations I’ve been to.

What can I say about this party that made it so memorable? Well, for starters, there was a ton of food. No sandwiches and scones at this party, but there was tea available by request. There were a couple of entertaining games that required everyone to participate. The games at the party were to guess the circumference of Adrian and Genese using and cutting a ball of yarn, another game was  to unscramble a list of words that related to child birth, another game for the guys that required them to drink beer through a baby’s bottle, and lastly a game that required people to memorize a tray of baby goods in a limited amount of time and to write them down on a piece of paper in a matter of time also.

Following all the games and eating, Genese opened up all her gifts and it was a joy to see all the fun, creative, and useful gifts that she was able to receive. After the gifts, everyone enjoyed a slice of cake and a nifty egg timer as a shower favor. Overall, everyone had a good time socializing, telling funny stories, reminising, and best of all eating with good company.

Pictures of the baby shower can be seen by clicking on the picture link above. Please feel free to leave me a comment or donation below for the pictures and/or the posting.

Recently, I was called up by a friend to photograph a wake and funeral over the course of two days. During my time at the wake there were many opportunities to sit and reflect while guests trickled in at different times to pay their respects. While sitting in the pews and while photographing various moments to remember I realized that life is short.

Over and over the phrase “life is short” started to mean so much when you experience the loss of someone first hand. The time that we are allowed to live here on this earth should count for something and the people or situations that we come into contact with everyday should mean so much than for one to grumble and complain about somebody or something. Time is limited and we should make life count.

Lately, I’ve been feeling that the everyday things that make me upset and angry should just be left behind and we should rather look beyond the superficial stuff of everyday life and make life happen. Now, I’m not here to say that you should save the planet from ulitimate destruction and feed the hungry till you can’t do it anymore, although that would be great. What I’m saying is that you should live each day as if it were your last.

What is it that you would want to be remembered by or rather what is it that you can leave this world knowing that you did your best in trying to help or accomplish. At the funeral seeing the family mourn the loss of their loved one was a little difficult to see because I too have lost people close to me, but they also celebrated what a remarkable person their friend and family member was to them. Seeing that life was cut short, they felt a little cheated, but they rest assure that the life that was lived will be remembered and forever with them as their lives go on.

The Italian Heritage Parade is the oldest Italian cultured parade in the United States and is a very entertaining parade at that. This is my first year in attendance and it was very enjoyable. There are lots of parades that go through the streets of San Francisco, but the Italian Heritage Parade has a warm sense of family and friendliness. The parade was held on Sunday during the Columbus Day Weekend and started at Fisherman’s Wharf and continued on Columbus Ave through North Beach ending at Washington Square.

The parade is held during San Francisco’s Fleet Week and the competition is fierce to get people in attendance. Most people I’ve seen at the wharf are tourists from out of town with a good chunk of locals as well. Since the air show is located on the northern end of San Francisco’s waterfront I decided to enjoy my first experience at the parade and attend the Blue Angels following the parade.

The parade was totally filled with lots of laughter and red, white, and green all over. In attendance were high school marching bands, drill teams from high school JROTC groups, festive floats, baton twirlers, politicians, Queen Isabella and her court, other pageant contestants, a few Shiners groups, Columbus Salami, Boudin Bakery, police and fire departments, the NorCal waste management garbage can drill team, horse associations, and many more.

I looked up the history of the Italian Heritage Parade and there are some pretty cool and interesting facts about the parade and their timeline. You can read more about some interesting facts and history of the parade located here.

The Italian Heritage Parade is one that I can’t believe I’ve never attended, but I will be sure to come back for more in the future. The colorful parade and people make this one parade to mark down on your calendars. I hope that next year the weather will cooperate and it will be sunny and warm.

Pictures of the 141st Italian Heritage Parade can be seen by clicking on the picture link above. Please feel free to leave me a comment below for the pictures and/or the posting.

“So, why has Michael not updated lately?”, you might ask yourself. Well the reason why I haven’t been able to update lately was because I was on a two week adventure exploring the Midwest of America racking up a staggering 2300+ miles driving. On my trip I encountered so many cool things that they all can’t be explained in words. Some things were so awesome that you just had to be there to fully take it in. I travelled across half the country in pursuit of visiting all of our nations baseball parks plus one more that is located in Toronto. However, on this trip I was able to tackle just four teams/stadiums. In the process of visiting cities within the United States I met some pretty amazing people; had I been accompanied with someone on my trip I don’t think I would be approached as much as I was when travelling alone.

Meeting and talking to new people is probably one of the most enjoyable things about travelling that one can experience. Getting to talk about your hometown and your likes and dislikes is something that keeps conversations going. It’s something about the unknown that makes people keeping wanting to know more and more about. For example, I had no idea what life and the cost of living was like in the Midwest and for people I met they had no idea how life was like here in San Francisco. As people I’ve talked with they are often interested in what San Francisco has to offer, they often are interested in knowing why I would come
all this way just to visit their hometown. Once I get started talking I’m very passionate about the things that I say and I often pride myself on having come from one of the best communities that this country has to offer. I must say yes the cities I’ve been to visit have been absolutely great, but there’s just something about good ol’ San Francisco that I still am in love with and that I would never find myself living away from. San Francisco has so much to offer and so much diversity that it’s surprising to know how much can fit into a 7 mile by 7 mile city.

Likes and dislikes of my trip often revolved around with what I have here, back home, versus the other cities not having what I’m use to or vise versa. What I like about the cities I’ve travelled to is the fact that some of the food is so amazing that I wish I had them here locally. Yes you can ship it to your home, but it’s just not the same when all the goodness is made there. I loved the weather over there. It was mostly sunny in the 70s and it was not humid at all except for a few days before it was going to rain, but an overall great sunny trip. Gasoline is probably the cheapest I’ve seen in a long time. In San Francisco the average gasoline price is about $3.15 and the average price in the Midwest is $2.15 with exception to Chicago which average prices were about $2.85. I like the fact that people are genuinely nice and polite if you are willing to give them a chance to introduce themselves and talk with them. I like the museums and attractions that are pertinent to their area. I like visiting different baseball stadiums and seeing what each has to offer. Finally, I like being able to explore on my own and not having to keep a friend waiting to go to another destination (allows me more freedom to strike up conversation with others).

Dislikes from the trip are few, but still important to record down. I dislike travelling alone at times because travelling gets to be very expensive when there is no one to help share the cost with. I dislike having to go to some of the very best places to eat, but not being able to try everything on the menu because there is only so much you can eat and diversity in dishes is next to none because you lack a travelling buddy to try their food. I dislike the fact that there’s not a big Asian community to feel a little comfortable in. I sometimes felt that I was being looked at a lot because I was different or maybe perhaps I had my zipper down. At times I really did miss seeing another Chinese person or not having been able to eat some Chinese food which would have been comforting to me. There are a few more, but I feel like you get my point.

So now you’re probably wondering where have I been to and why am I just rambling well right about now is when I disclose all. My itinerary was to visit St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Kansas City. Along the way I visited a few other cities that were pretty awesome too. I visited St. Paul and St. Joseph as two additional places. All I can say now is that two weeks weren’t enough to see all those places for the first time.

I flew out of San Francisco to St. Louis on Southwest Airlines. I had one of the most entertaining flights I’ve ever had on a Denver to St. Louis connection flight. The male flight attendant was one of the most hilarious persons that I’ve encountered. He made flying so much fun and eased the tension for those that hate flying or even flying alone. He basically turned the plane into a party plane, it was so fun. One thing I was questioning myself was to get off that plane to take an offer of a hotel stay and a $200 voucher for a future flight in return to give up my seat for someone else because Southwest overbooked the flight. If I got off in Denver I would have experienced heavy rain, my luggage would have been sent away from me for a day rotating around the baggage claim carousel, and I wouldn’t have been on the party plane.

In St. Louis, there is so much to see and explore that a few days is not enough. In St. Louis I got to see the Gateway Arch, Anheuser-Busch Brewery, Jefferson Barracks Historic Park, Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Missouri Botanical Gardens, Science Center, the Old Courthouse, Museum of Westward Expansion, Missouri History Museum, St. Louis Zoo, Forest Park, Busch Stadium and other various places in and around those areas.

Chicago is a great city, but what absolutely sucks about the city is that no matter where you go you have to pay for parking with a few exceptions though. Even city parks you have to pay for parking which I found to be a little ironic, those places should be free to park. I’ve been to Chicago before and did all the touristy things that there is to do, but on this trip I brought along my DSLR so I revisited some of the spots that I’ve seen. While in Chicago I visited the Eli Cheesecake World Factory, outside the Museum of Science and Industry (which is an amazing museum), Lake Michigan, U.S. Cellular Field, Wrigley Field, United Center, Shed Aquarium, Alder Planetarium, Buckingham Fountain, Public Library, Millennium Park, Magnificent Mile, Lincoln Park, and other areas of the city.

In Milwaukee I got to walk outside the Harley Davidson Museum, Miller Brewing Company, Mitchell Park Conservatory (The Domes), Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee City Hall, Pettit National Ice Center, Shops of Grand Ave., Riverwalk, Lake Michigan, Water Tower, North Point Lighthouse, and Miller Park.

In St. Paul I saw the Cathedral of St. Paul, Cherokee Park, City Hall, Como Park (zoo and conservatory), Landmark Center, Minnesota State Capitol, and Mickey’s Dining Car.

In Minneapolis I visited the Minneapolis Museum of Art, Mill City Museum, Guthrie Theater, Minnehaha Park, Steven’s House at Minnehaha Park, Upper and Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam, the Metrodome, Stone Arch Bridge, Downtown, and a few miles south the Mall of America.

In St. Joseph I visited the Pony Express Museum, Pony Express HQ located at Patte House Museum, Jesse James’ Home and the original site where the house was built before moving to the Patte House, Robidoux Row Museum, the outside of the National Military Heritage Museum (which was closed), the Missouri River, Downtown, and Lovers Lane.

In Kansas City, MO I got to see Downtown at night, the Harley Davidson Kansas City Manufacturing Operations Plant, Union Station, National World War I Museum, Crown Center, outside of Hallmark Visitors Center, a glimpse of the Toy and Miniature Museum, Jazz District, The Plaza, the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, and Kauffman Stadium.

In each and every city there were absolutely some great food and there are so many places I would love to share with you, but you’ll just have to wait and see when I have time to get reviews of those places up. I must say though it was sure some great eats.

Overall, the trip that I took to all of these places were absolutely amazing. While travelling alone I couldn’t help not forget all the generous people who have made my trip much more enjoyable. Being offered free tickets to sampling food made this trip one to remember. I’m so thankful for those of you who made this such an awesome trip. Travelling alone is not foreign to me because now I can say that I’ve been there and done that. I will embark on a new adventure next year and I hope that the trip then will have much of an impact on me as it has now.

Pictures of the trip will eventually be put up in my travel section of my website, but for now keep the anticipation up and encourage me to get it done. Hope to share with you some of my travels. If I met you on my trip please leave a comment I would sure like to keep in touch with you. Thanks.

It was a party cloudy night sky downtown on the waterfront when I was at a friend’s birthday party. While enjoying the party all of a sudden the night sky overlooking the Ferry Building errupted in dazzling light and loud bangs. I hurried over to the balcony and I noticed a barge sitting out over the calm waters behind the Ferry Building.

The fireworks that night was one that caught me by surprise, but I’m glad I was there at that particular time and place. It was a spectacular sight to see, but it all was a little surreal. For one thing, this was an almost eerie situation. As I glanced over the skyline, I noticed that the Bay Bridge lights were turned off and there was no noise from cars driving on it (due to the Labor Day weekend closures to construct a “S-curved” roadway on the eastern section of the Bay Bridge) and also I found it a little weird that there was no one on the streets or on the waterfront crowding to watch a show.

I tried researching online to see what occassion it was and I even contacted the police department in hopes of finding out what the deal was about. To no avail, I had not gotten any information on the incident, but I just am thankful that I got to see a spectacular show on a spectacular night with the conditions being just right and the moon in the background to see an awesome show.

If anyone has any ideas of what the fireworks were for on September 5th, 2009 please comment on this posting.

Burlingame is home to one of the most unique museums in the world, the PEZ Museum. The PEZ Museum is a small one of a kind gem that you can only find here in the Bay Area and if you are lucky enough, you can come and witness with your own eyes the world’s largest PEZ dispenser. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10am - 6pm.

Upon entering the museum, there is a little shop that is open to the public to purchase all sorts of PEZ dispensers and some hard to find collectible sets. In another room of the business space is the museum where all types of information on PEZ and other collectible toys can be found. Open to visitors of all ages, the museum mainly focuses it’s attention on toys that the older generation have come to grow up with. It is very nostalgic when first entering the room because at one point in time almost all Americans have owned at least one of the few items that were on display.

At the PEZ museum not only will you find PEZ dispensers and their memorabilia, but you will find a display for Lincoln Logs, Erector Sets, Tinker Toys, Mr. Potato Head, View-Master, Colorforms, Etch-a-sketch, Play-Doh, Lego, Easy Bake Oven, and other sets from times past.

Information that I learned while at the museum were that: PEZ was first developed as a peppermint candy which was developed in Austria by Eduard Haas III. PEZ derives it’s name from the German word for peppermint, which is Pfefferminz. PEZ came out with it’s first dispenser in 1950, they were in the shape of a cigarette lighter. A few years later heads were placed on the top of the dispenser. Since then over 550 types of heads for the dispensers have been created. PEZ candy is produced here in the U.S., while the dispensers and the heads are made in Hungary and China. PEZ dispensers were always made of plastic except for the metal spring that pushes up the candy. The Guinness Book of World Record’s Biggest PEZ dispenser can be found at the PEZ museum in Burlingame. It is 85 lbs. in weight, 7ft. 10in. in height, can hold up to 24 dispensers, and can hold 6480 PEZ candies.

Upon reading more information about the museum, it has received a lawsuit from the makers of PEZ regarding this institution… bummer. I hope everything works out for the museum.

Wicked is probably one of the best musicals that I have ever seen. It is full of color and emotion. Wicked was so good that it’s worth seeing over and over again. I wonder if theatrical musicals ever sell on DVD because if so I’d love to get my hands on a copy. Wicked is based on the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the west by Gregory Maguire. The musical itself was created in three parts (music, lyrics, and book/unsung words). The music and lyrics were developed by Stephen Schwartz and the book was created by Winnie Holzman.

Wicked was great in so many ways. What i loved about the musical was that is made me laugh and almost cry. Actually, I don’t cry. I bawl and snivel. Just kidding, I just get a little choked up. Watching Wicked kept me at full attention because a lot of the songs hit home for me. Based on a different view of the witches that we don’t see in the story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz we get a little glimpse of what life was like for these two witches in Oz.

See, life is all about perspective and how you look at your life or another’s life is often seen one sided. Wicked allows us to see that other side of the story that is often unseen. What one person experiences might be interpreted differently from one person to that of another person. That’s what makes this story so interesting and captivating. This story helps fill in the gaps from what was not seen in the original story.

The story of Wicked is developed around two women, Elphaba and Glinda. Elphaba will later become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda to be the Good Witch of the North. The story of Wicked brings us back to the earlier moments of their life when Elphaba and Glinda were roommates in school. During their time in school Glinda tries to teach Elphaba how to become more of a popular woman because Elphaba is seen by everyone in Munchkinland as an odd scary green being. Elphaba in turn tries to indirectly inform others that she’s not different and that she wants all animals to have their freedom, basically she’s pro-animal rights. Throughout their time at the university they experience laughter, love, envy, distaste, and friendship. By the musical’s end, I got a better understanding on perspective about the Wicked Witch of the West and came to the conclusion that she wasn’t that bad after all. She was actually a really caring person, but no one ever gave her the opportunity to share her feelings or hear her words except for a few willing ears.

(If you don’t want any possible spoilers don’t read the content below)

Some things new about the musical that I did not know before in the original story was that the Wicked Witch of the East was Elphaba’s sister, Nessarose. I also learned that the scarecrow’s name was Fiyero who later ran away with Elphaba. I did not know that the melting of Elphaba was just a scheme to fool the citizens of Oz. I did not know the Tinman was Boq, who secretly loved Glinda, but was going out with Nessarose. Lastly, I didn’t know that Madame Morrible had control over the weather and caused Dorthy’s house to fall on top of Nessarose.

Several moments got me laughing in the musical that I thought were cleverly scripted. There was a moment when the two girls had to room with each other and they wrote letters back to their parents. Glinda called Elphaba a girl that was “unusually and exceedingly peculiar and all together impossible to describe” and Elphaba described Glinda as “blond”. There was a time in class when Elphaba was heated and Glinda poked fun of her saying that the artichoke is steamed. I laughed pretty hard because this was a moment early on when all the kids were making fun of the way Elphaba looked. Another time was when Doctor Dillamond a professor had a conversation with his students that he was seen as the token goat around, well that was because he was the only goat. Another moment was when Glinda was showing Elphaba how to toss her hair into the air (”Toss, Toss, hehehehehe”). There were many more moments, but they’d have to be seen to really enjoy the humor and subtle humor through gestures.

The songs in the musical were very meaningful and I thought had a lot of emotion behind them. In most musicals that I’ve seen, I have never come to understand the meanings of the lyrics since sometimes the lyrics get lost in the music and rhythm. However, with Wicked the lyrics of the songs were well enunciated. Since the lyrics became so understandable I was able to relate more with the story. A few songs that I’ve come to know because of advertisements and such were “Popular” and “Defying Gravity”. Those two songs were great and catchy, but no other song in the musical had much more meaning than near the end of the musical and that song is called “For Good”. This song was probably so heart wrenching that I got choked up. It was a moment when both witches had to go and part their separate ways and to say goodbye. The basic lyrics that kept repeating itself within the song was “I do believe I have been changed for the better because I knew you, I have been changed for good.” If you hear this song and truly listen to lyrics, this can probably apply to any one’s life. It hit home for me and that’s why I will never forget this song. Truly a blessing to hear it and I hope you get a chance to listen to it.

Overall, this musical in terms of story and song was probably one of the best that I’ve seen if not the best I’ve seen. I highly recommend watching it if you haven’t already, but if you have seen it already perhaps watch it a second time to truly absorb the subtle meanings of the story and relive some of the hilarious moments. This musical gives “Jersey Boys” a run for it’s money. That is probably another best musical in my favorites list.

Following Wicked, I got to meet the following and get autographs from: Teal Wicks (Elphaba), Natalie Daradich (standby for Glinda), DeeDee Magno Hall (Nessarose), Patty Duke ( Madame Morrible), and Nicolas Dromard (Fiyero).