I forgot to stick my umbrella in my bag this morning and it's raining! I need to go out and grab some lunch too. Maybe I'll check the radar and see if it's going to clear up anytime soon. I might be stuck with running next door for a slice of pizza (no!). Maybe I can make it down to the soup place. Mmmm, Grandma Mary's chicken soup sounds pretty good right now.
Raise your hand if you're excited about the new Survivor! The series starts February 7 with a new Fans vs. Favorites format.
I was looking forward to this season until I saw that Jonny Fairplay is one of the "favorites" then I wasn't so sure I even wanted to watch it. I can only hope that he gets voted off early and doesn't make the jury so I don't have to see his smarmy face very long. Perusing the list of returning castaways makes me wonder whose favorites they are. Certainly not any of mine.
The most intriguing fan just from reading a few bios on cbs.com is Chet. He describes himself as "magical" and is a pageant coach for Miss America!
Project Runway
You know it's not gonna last long when the designers are excited about a challenge. You can just sense that soon Tim is going to be gathering around the designers to throw them for a loop. Chris was so thrilled about creating a look inspired by a hair style. Plus he was partnered with his mini-me, Christian. This challenge was right up their alley. Their avant garde look was amazing. I was a bit surprised by their choice of color. It wasn't really that pretty, you could even say boring. No one was happy about having to come up with a ready-to-wear version but C&C did an okay job. I was happy to see Christian win, especially after his scare last week.
I found it very painful to watch Victorya and Jillian try to work together (V kinda gives me the willies), but their final product was awesome. Jillian's coat was my favorite creation of this season so far. Pairing a satiny punk trench with riding boots and jodhpurs was inspired. Of the last-minute, surprise ready-to-wear dresses, I think Sweet P's was the best of the lot. Rami needs to lighten up on her.
Ellen DeGeneres Show
Poor Ellen. She's sick with a cold but she's still doing her show. For her monologue (currently sans writers), she stretched out on a sofa with an afghan and had a couple of her audience members dance around the set since she couldn't.
In one of the oddest segments I've see on her show, a crazy guy with a brush in each hand (then later with no brushes at all) slapped various colors of paint on a huge rotating canvas all the while dancing to some tunes. At the end he flipped the painting 180ยบ and all of a sudden it became Ray Charles. They got some great reaction shots of the disbelieving audience as they rose in a standing ovation. I guess he's huge on YouTube.
American Idol: Dallas Auditions
I have a new favorite for Hollywood Week: Kyle, the Politician, with his red tie and adorable smile and curly brown hair. Right, that Simon is confusing sometimes. I couldn't believe he immediately said yes to this college boy. I guess what he admires is when people are themselves and Kyle was genuine and really didn't have that bad a voice.
Oh, dear. The teaser for this commercial break just made me pee my pants. A guy in a wig and floral print says, "Just give it a try. Pants can be restricting." Yes, you guessed it, a man in a dress. Can't wait to see Simon's reaction to this guy in pearls... .... .... ... Rats, he was just part of a boys-as-girls montage. Oh, well.
Wow, there's a guy from Edwardsville, Illinois, auditioning in Dallas. The rocker with eyeliner. Oof, he's horrible. Plus he has a really fake tan. The judges vote no.
Man, I love those montages when they have everyone singing the same song. Of course, since we're in Dallas, they're singing Kelly Clarkson's Since You've Been Gone. Such funny editing.
Deal or No Deal
Awhile back Howie was on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and they showed a clip of her guest spot on DoND. Well, tonight was that episode. Strangely enough on Ellen's show today I didn't hear mention of it. Maybe I just missed it. Sometimes when the heater's running it's hard to hear.
Like I said on Monday, Howie's on a Million Dollar Mission so tonight's contestant has seven cases each containing one million dollars. Let's play!
The case models come down the stairs but there's one spot missing so Howie has to call out for the last model and Ellen comes out (so to speak). She's wearing a green, sparkly, spaghetti strap dress. Don't have a heart attack! She's also wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt and black trousers and sneakers. Of course. Take a deep breath. When Howie starts explaining the Million$Mission, Ellen has to sit down on the stairs and call her mom. While they're taping!
Okay, on with the game.
My friend Paul and I went to the sister restaurant of our favorite Thai hole-in-the-wall today for lunch. Our place is currently undergoing some rather significant remodeling so we are reduced to lunching across the street in the slightly higher-priced, somewhat fancier place which is owned and run by the same people. Our familiar wait staff are working over there now too.
We walked in and the place was packed and noisy. I decided I wanted to splurge and get not only a Thai Iced Tea (delicious) but also some spring rolls (yummy). I noticed that they had brown rice on the Sides menu (I did say fancier) so I asked for brown instead of steamed along with my ginger chicken (surprisingly less tasty than normal). Our waitress wasn't writing anything down so I just knew one of us was going to have something wrong with our order. Of course, me requesting no bell peppers in my entree didn't help either. But, hey, I like what I like.
Our orders came and, yes, we both had white rice. Bummer. Next time I guess.
Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann
Ooo, I'm so glad my two faves were picked by Bruno. I did so want to root for his team. I admire Carrie Ann but I just luuuv Bruno. Zack is my favorite guy. He's got it all. He's good looking but not too pretty. He can really sing and he's got the moves. Bruno also picked my favorite girl, Kelsey. She's the one who came to auditions with her two friends both of whom didn't make it into the top 14. She's a really strong dancer and has a lovely husky voice. Bruno got to go first for the last two and picked my other favorite guy, Phillip. Carrie Ann had earlier picked my second favorite girl, Elizabeth, who is not a trained dancer but has an amazing voice and incredible green eyes. Drew Lachey is the host and is doing a great job. He got some practice when he filled in on Dancing with the Stars when Samantha Harris was out having a baby. I'm hoping Tom and Len show up sometime on Dance Wars. That would be hilarious.
Deal or No Deal
DoND has fast become my not-so-secret obsession. I love it so much. I'm even taping all the re-runs on CNBC. Howie Mandel is a perfect host for this show. Lately he's been on a Million Dollar Mission where if a contestant doesn't win a million, the next contestant gets that million in one of their cases. Tonight's contestant had six, that's SIX, cases with $1,000,000. Crazy.
Hi, I'm back from my self-imposed hiatus. Though my absence may never be fully explained I can refute the following strangely persistent rumors:
Dress??
Yes, that's right. Only on Project Runway, of course. A dress made of the delicious strawberry-flavored licorice was one of the creations on a recent episode where the challenge was hosted by the Hershey's shop in Times Square. The contestants were set loose in the candy store with five minutes to collect materials for a garment they had to make that day. Only Jillian had the eggs to use an edible material. All of the others grabbed pillows and toys and wrappers. My favorite, Christian, used the brown wrappers from peanut butter cups glued to a brown halter dress. My least favorite, the oddball Elisa, was finally "auf" of the competition for her boring brown dress. Jillian's confection creation gave her a lot of problems but the judges approved of her finally completed design.
This past week's episode was a prom dress challenge where the clients were high school girls from New Jersey and were also the models. Christian's client was a design student herself who had very definite ideas for her gown. He was caught between trying to put in all the elements she requested and creating a garment that had his look. He wasn't that successful and on the runway he blamed his client for his difficulties. That turned off the judges and he only escaped being cut because Kevin had a really bad week. My favorite gown of the week was Chris' green creation. Lovely.
I am lame, lame, lame. I have had so many fun happenings around here and have told you nothing about them. I thought I'd get some photo editing and post writing done this weekend with a couple days off but I did not. And I apologize. Which does you (and I) no good until I actually get something done. I will try this week to upload some images and tell some stories. In the meantime you can check out my photos website for a peek at my parents' visit.
Our trip to Yosemite was great. I'll post some photos and stories from the trip later but, in the meantime, you can get a sneak peek at my photo website.
So Sunday night I left Anne and Don at their hotel near Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco and loosed them onto the City. I didn't see them again until this afternoon. Here's a rundown of their week so far (sorry, no photos):
Monday: They woke up super early (pre-dawn!) so went walking about on the wharves. A guy on the street stopped them asking, "Are you hungry? I've got clam chowder in a bread bowl." They thought that sounded pretty good so they got a couple bowls and sat on a bench in the big parking lot watching the seagulls (and enjoying a good chowder). Later they took the cable car down to Chinatown and joined three dozen others in a walking tour. That's a lot of people to organize in and out of those little alleyways. Supper was a Wharf staple: Scoma's (Don had the swordfish).
Tuesday: It was clam chowder bread bowls for breakfast again (those crazy kids). Then they hopped on the F line streetcar around Herb Caen Way... to Market Street for their morning tour of the historic Palace Hotel. After lunch, they caught up with the historic Market Street walking tour in the financial district. They ended up near my office but Anne couldn't remember exactly which building it was (and had forgotten her cellphone I guess). They cable-car-ed it back up to the Wharf and I forget where they went for supper, somewhere delicious, I'm sure.
Wednesday: Chowder again for breakfast? Out at 9 and back at 2, Anne and Don spent most of the day out on the Rock, also known as Alcatraz. They had a late lunch at Houston's to fuel themselves for their hike up Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower. They found a different set of stairs back down and just kept walking back to the Wharf. They took a self-guided tour of the famous sourdough Boudin bakery and I think it was In-N-Out for supper.
Thursday: They were actually able to sleep in this morning so had to skip their chowder but after catching a cable car down to Union Square they found a nearby diner where Don had corned beef hash and Anne had a turkey breast omelette. They met up with the Victorian Home Walk group at Union Square where they caught a bus out to Pacific Heights. They got to see where Mrs. Doubtfire was filmed and where Don Johnson lived when he was here filming Nash Bridges.
They made their way back my way and decided to come by so I gave them a tour of our office and they met some of my co-workers. We made plans for tomorrow's pre-Yosemite rendezvous then I sent them to the BART station to buy tickets for their morning trip (after chowder, of course) over to my place. They discovered the movie theater in the mall next door so decided to see Dan in Real Life and by the time that let out it was suppertime so they checked in with me about plans for dinner. I was just finishing up a project for the day so was happy to get out of the office before 7. We had a lovely supper at Out the Door (shrimp spring roll, crispy vegetarian roll, grilled prawns with rice noodles, cellophane noodles with crab) where they told me all about their week so far.
Oh, my BART trip home was uneventful. Well, I did just miss a train and had to wait 18 minutes for the next one (had a book though {of course}).
Whew! I'm finally home.
This afternoon we had a going-away party at a local diner for a collegue who's leaving (even though she was sick and couldn't come). I hadn't eaten lunch so I ordered some breakfast for an early supper. I was ready to go about 5 or so but still had a few things to do at work so, instead of heading home like a smart person, I went back to the office. Big mistake.
About an hour later I headed home but when I got down to the BART station there were crowds around the gates. People were only coming out and not going in. I hung out a bit to see what was going on and heard a BART cop say the station was closed. As I left to go back to the office to wait it out, I heard someone say that a train had run over someone. Oh, no!
I checked online to see what was going on. One website said there was a person under a train, condition unknown. They figured it might be a couple hours before the trains were running through the station again. In the meantime, trains were being sent back at the neighboring stations.
The next station in my direction is pretty close so Gunther and I decided to hoof it. It only took a few minutes to get there but the lines to get through the gates were ridiculous. Gunther was reluctant to stand in line and was getting hungry so we went to a nearby Chipotle. I was still pretty full from my early diner breakfast but couldn't resist sharing a basket of crunchy tacos with black beans and rice. Yum!
That wasted about a half hour and by that time the lines had dispersed and when we got down to the platform the trains were running in both directions again. My train came in about 5 minutes so I left Gunther in the City and settled in for my commute. I even got a seat!
But that wasn't the end of my evening's adventure. We were in the tunnel in Oakland when the train pulled to a stop and an announcement came over the PA system that there had been an earthquake so we had to hold there for at least 5 minutes. I didn't think that would be so bad but after each earthquake they have to do a track inspection so we had to go very slowly for a long time. I overheard a station announcement when the doors were open that the quake was a 5.6 centered in Alum Rock down near Fremont where I used to live. That's pretty big.
Disclaimer: Some of the following photos were taken by Anne.
Today Anne & Don and I headed up to the Napa Valley and wine country. It was again a lovely day for sight-seeing. We stopped off first at the Visitors Center to pick up some ideas of where to go.
We decided to start at a big name so drove up the road to the Robert Mondavi Winery. The tours were a bit pricey for our taste so we just looked around. It's a beautiful place. As you enter, a statue of St. Francis welcomes you.
(detail of statue)
The parking lots are surrounded by fields of vines.
Colorful flowers...
...and a lively fountain beckon you inside.
We strolled around (some of us hand in hand) enjoying the sun and manicured vineyard.
Since I'm not a fan of wine I was hoping to find somewhere to taste some local olive oil. Just up the road from Mondavi we saw a blackboard sign advertising "Local Olive Oil Tasting". How lucky were we? Soooo lucky. The fun, off-beat store of the St. Helena Olive Oil Co. was offering tastes of not just olive oils but balsamic vinegars, fig compote, barbeque sauce, honey, pesto, and mustards. The flavor of olive oil that caught my fancy was lemon. It was so fresh tasting I just had to buy a bottle. I also got some Italian pesto and some local barbeque sauce. It was great place.
Anne & Don aren't big wine people either but they've had some and they knew they liked one from Sutter Home so we stopped at their store after seeing the sign for "Complimentary Tastings". As I was browsing I saw these funny flip flops that seemed to be sized for small round feet. Turns out they are coasters for wine glasses. I'm not sure why they need to wear crazy looking flip flops.
We then crossed the valley to a less-travelled road where Anne spotted a field with some grapes left on the vines.
Then I spotted a bunny.
We were not anticipating just how many wineries are in Napa Valley and just how concentrated they are. We drove by one after the other after the other after the other.
We were going to go to the geyser at Calistoga but I had read online that it costs $8 so we decided to skip it. We also choose to forego the petrified forest, so sorry, you'll have to wait for pics for a couple weeks until Mom & Dad and I visit it. We crossed over the hills to the west then drove south through the Sonoma Valley and landed in Sonoma for a late lunch at the awfully, unbearably cute and tasty Black Bear Diner (pot roast for me, ham steak for Don, chicken avocado club for Anne).
As we drove south on the 101, we spied the Marin County Civic Center which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. (better photos)
We paused at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge...
...crossed over it...
then paused on the south side and walked out on it for a bit.
It was getting darkish and I still had to drive back home so we headed over to Fisherman's Wharf and Anne & Don's hotel where they checked in, I used the facilities and we parted. I started home only to be stopped by a jam of cars trying to go home the same way as me.
I eventually made it across the bridge and home.
Next: Anne & Don visit San Fran without me (sniffle) then Yosemite with me (yea!)
On our drive north after lunch I mentioned (as we passed through Berkeley) that it had been a really long time since I had been to the pier at the Berkeley marina. It's quite long and from it you can see many of the famous bridges and sights of the SF Bay. It was just about sunset on our way back south so I suggested we stop and walk out on the pier.
The view to the northwest of the pier.
Don and Anne (left of frame) walk off into the sunset.
The Golden Gate Bridge shares the golden spotlight with the sinking sun.
Mt. Tamalpais and other Marin hills where we had just been a short while ago.
Sailors head home in the soft light of dusk. Can you spot the Richmond Bridge in the background?
The San Francisco skyline behind the sister islands of Yerba Buena and Treasure Island.
One last view of the GGB spanning the Golden Gate -- entrance to the SF Bay.
Next time: A&D visit Napa Valley, Calistoga, and the Petrified Forest (oh my)
My sister Anne and brother-in-law Don are spending 10 days here in my neck of the woods. Just as I was putting on my shoes this morning I got the call from Anne that they had arrived. She said there was no rush so I made a quick stop at Starbucks on the way. Once I got to the airport, I paused at the curb just long enough for them to pop the hatch, toss in their bags and climb aboard. We exchanged hellos then Anne said, "What do you think about going up to Muir Woods today?"
I had no problem with that though I worried their day would get long (their flight from St. Louis left before 6am!). Once we were on the road, it was too early (and out of the way) to check them into their hotel so we came back to my place to find maps and consider our route. By that time we were hungry so grabbed lunch at a local family restaurant (rib-eye with shrimp for me, chicken burrito for Don, breakfast burrito for Anne). It was a gorgeous day for tripping around the Bay Area so Anne and I enjoyed the weather and scenery on our drive north while Don caught a few winks in the backseat (sorry, no photo).
We arrived at Muir Woods to find the typical weekend parking hassle. They have two parking lots but if they're full you're supposed to park on the side of the narrow road. We drove to the end of the long, long line of parked cars but decided we'd rather spend our time waiting for a parking spot to open up than walk that far from -- and back to -- the car. We circled the main lot a couple times then shifted to the auxiliary lot where we got lucky and snagged a spot after only 15 total minutes of stalking.
If I had a color design for my life, Muir Woods at this time of year would be it.
(Click on the photos to see a larger size.)
Wouldn't you like to just hang out in this living room?
There was just a slight sense of fall in the woods with a few yellow leaves...
and just a trickle of water in the creek.
I love being in amongst the super tall trees with their orangey-brown trunks on display.
The fallen logs and branches of shorter non-redwoods strike a counterpoint of mossy green.
I was headed back down the main path when I spotted a deer several yards away. It was crouching low to the ground acting almost like it was injured or ill. Then all of a sudden others were there and two of them were fighting. They were close enough that we could hear the crack of their antlers crashing together. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough to catch it with my camera and the shots I did get of the deer were too far away and blurry (as you can see).
Of course, we had to take the traditional "there are people inside a tree!" shot.
The angle of sunlight in the late afternoon provided some dramatic views of these amazing trees.
Next time: A&D visit the Berkeley Marina fishing pier
For all you vocabulary fans: FreeRice.com
For every correct word chosen from a four-word multiple choice list, FreeRice.com will donate 10 rice grains to the United Nations World Food Program. So far 232.7 million grains have been donated and the site only began on October 7. I earned 1000 grains tonight.
The site itself is gorgeous and they customize your test as you answer the questions. Read the FAQ for a description of how it works. I fluctuated around the mid- to low 40s. How 'bout you?
Here are some of the more difficult words I got (descriptions in the comments):
teredo
hebdomadal
meretricious
amercement
leister
rumen
I've mentioned here before how much I love views from above. This view is sadly lacking in joy, however. The red marks on the satellite image of Southern California represent active fire areas this afternoon. And it's easy to identify the smoke flying out to sea. What's crazy to me are the plumes of dust kicked up by the gale-force winds blowing down from the desert and through narrow canyons thanks to those awful Santa Anas. Click on the link below the image to see a larger view (takes awhile to load) which you can zoom in on.
One interesting thing I heard on Nightline tonight was that they got plenty of rain down in the Southland a couple years ago so there's loads of fuel (read "shrubbery") this year for the fires to burn. One of the most dramatic videos I watched was a darkened street full of burning embers being swept away to start up more fires wherever they may land.
The area of high pressure over Salt Lake (that's causing the severe winds from the east) is supposed to diminish and move on by Wednesday so there may be some help for firefighters in getting some of the fires under control with some higher humidity levels.
That same high is giving us some pretty warm weather up here in the Bay Area as well. I hope people are being very careful with their cigarette butts and are making sure they put out their camp fires and grills.
I have so many library books on my front passenger seat that when I added the weight of my work bag to the pile it triggered my car's seatbelt sign sensor and the dashboard light began flashing warning me of an unbelted passenger.
Books on the seat:
The Bishop's Heir (read), The King's Justice (in bag), The Quest for Saint Camber, King Kelson's Bride by Katherine Kurtz
Dark of the Moon by John Sandford
Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich
Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn
Ah, Fleet Week. Who doesn't like screaming engines and screaming to be heard over them? I'm surprised we got any meetings accomplished today with the Blue Angels and their jets flying over downtown all day. I'm sure glad our big anniversary party isn't this week. I may have to wear ear plugs tomorrow.
I arrived home just at 8pm this evening with high anticipation of some good TV. Little did I realize how much good TV was happening at 8 o'clock. I already had my DVR scheduled with the results show for Dancing with the Stars and the second episode of the current cycle of America's Next Top Model.
When I turned on the TV it was tuned to the Food Network and my favorite, Good Eats, was on and it was about waffles. How could I miss that?
Then I found out that it was Barry Bonds' last game with the Giants. I just had to watch that. So I had all four of my tuners going at once.
But then I suddenly remembered that Joanna had said Kid Nation was on tonight. I watched it last week but hadn't set a series recording. I abandoned Good Eats and flipped over to CBS. I tuned in after the chicken controversy but caught the water challenge and Michael's triumph at the town council meeting. I was so glad to see him get the $20k gold star. He deserved it so much more than the graffiti-drawing suck-up Greg.
ETA: I just tuned into Bionic Woman and, hello, John just might be right.
