Neptune's Net on Food Network!

Hud, I gotta hand it to you for showing me this place...secret's getting out!

Es Muy Intersante...

I'd like to meet these Leonard and Drake characters...

Pass the Raki, Luften!

While over at the Getty Center today, Jam and I were lucky enough to see catch a sold-out musical performance by an unknown to me Adana native, Mr. Omar Faruk Tekbilek. The guy was amazing..performing on a multitude of instruments including the ney (bamboo flute), zurna (double-reed oboe like instrument with buzzing tone), the baglama (long-necked lute), the oud (the classic lute), as well as percussion. His sidekick with him, Mr. Hasan Isakkut (on kanun) and the percussionist were incredible as well. If you dig this type of music, def. check him out. The sounds brought me back to the streets of Istanbul and made me realize how much I really miss it..esp. the people...It was just so nice. Still, there's just no substitute for the real thing. I was so upset the only thing I could do after the performance was speed on down to Sunnin:) and drown my sorrows.

We're Not Worthy...

Was reading Kelley's blog and rewatched the Daily Show's "The Manhattan Project". Nobody really ever stops and give thanks to Jon Stewart. He's probably the one thing I'll say I enjoyed about Bush being President. I was rolling over when I watched this. Esp. after Nick's friend in Denver told me that Kansas State University (located in Manhattan, Kansas) still has smoking sections in their dorm cafes. Ha! He's getting desperate!

Dental Update #2: 7 8am shots of Novcaine later..

and a modest bill of $530....I officially can't feel the entire lower left part of my jaw. Man, what I'd do for some drunken karaoke right now. This is ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as the $80 dollar "no seatbelt" ticket I received from our lovely CHiP friends..At least I got pulled over by a motorcycle cop..that's a first! But seriously, this city...between the dentist bills, parking tickets, traffic tickets, etc...well, you gotta laugh!

The Year of the Dog, indeed. Gong xi fa cai! Esp. those Nomads in China;)

Get out of my dreams! Get into my car! I love Dentist music and novcaine!

A Tribute To Office Banter: 1/23/06-1/27/06

A yawn isn’t contiagous, just a powerful suggestion. The infamous “debugging” moth story. Best way to leave a nasty note to a colleague: voice activation on Adobe v6.0, they cut it out of v7.0 b/c of Gov't abuse. The Shampoo Loop: Lather, Wash, Rinse, Repeat. How to grow a pineapple. Wet Paint Syndrome. How they diagnosis sleep apnea. Being a good carpenter: measure 2x, cut once. Sodium in the toilet can blow someone up. The number of zip codes in the state of California. Worry is interest on a debt that isn’t even due yet. East coast “delicacy”: Scrapple. The dirt under your fingernails is perservatives? Material vs materiel. DIET: Did I Eat That? Don’t ever come home to your wife smelling like soap. It’s so humid in the East dogs don’t chase cats, they walk them. If the maker doesn’t want it, the buyer doesn’t use it, and the user never sees it, what is it? A coffin. Making diamonds out of ashes, just need carbon w/ heat and pressure. Firehose method of learning. Whenever your life is gold, keep your eye on the donut, not the hole. Dewey Cheatemandhow. That’ll do it! What would it take for you to beat your girl in public? She insults your mom? No. Cheating? No. Paying child support for 10 yrs and finding out it’s not your kid? No. What about if she told you that she used to be a he? That’ll do it! How RuPaul tucks to “fit” in his/her dresses. Blue moon occurs on the 2nd full moon of the month. If you sneeze, burp, cough, pass gas at the same time you’re pretty much out of here…and you might take some people, too. Body mechanism that protects itself: you won’t sneeze after getting the “zipper”. North Carolina and New Mexico are the only states that are allowed to tax the Federal Government on services. On NIB/NISH firms: how are they making pens? Seriously! What can build buildings, yet tear them down and can blind a man, yet help a blind man see? Sand. What metal is in a light bulb? Tungstun. What’s the atomic symbol? W. What was that sound? Someone has a lot of fiber in their diet! That’s some wicker swing-set fiber! This is a January/February conversation, March yourself out. Rocky Mountain Oysters. Raisens make moonshine more smooth. Only way to stay awake during a meeting: amuse yourself with someone trying to stay awake. People nodding in meetings are like heorion addicts: impeccable balance…never fall! Make sure to click this button..it’s really hard to find, it’s called job security. Write down this code: “ID”, ten, and “t”. PEBCAC (Problem Exists Between Computer And Chair). Should you hang a men with a wooden leg? Nope, you should do it with a rope. Never piss off a flight attendent about your food, they’ll take your meal in the bathroom and give it the “blue juice” treatment. Sylvester ‘s “suffering succotash”. Succotash= corn and lima beans, along with milk, butter, and seasonings and nutmeg. Whenever there is a contract under investigation, the first thing you’ll see people do is frantically flipping through the pages and sighing/tossing it when they find out it’s not their signature on the document.

Office Daydreaming...

Any country in Eastern Europe. Capital city preferably. Streetside cafe. Warm morning sun. Summertime humidity. Traffic noise. Lots of pedestrians packed full of femme fatals. Strong coffee. Latest trashy Euro-pop song blasting. Good conversation about nothing. Laughter. No idea of time or day. Only plans include an outdoor bar after lunch.

Michigan: End of the American Dream...

Even though I completely understand the economics behind all of it, being a Michigan native, I can't help help but feel sorry for these guys. Certainly much of middle-class America is under fire right now, and it's anyone's guess as to how far reaching the effects of outsourcing will be.

On Frontier Airlines...Quickly..

Before I forget to tell everyone, Frontier Airlines has the hottest/nicest air hostess I've ever seen..foreign or domestic. You should have seen it, everybody was paying attention during the safety announcements and for some reason the men all needed help buckling their seatbelts. Hmm.

At any rate, F.A. also lets you watch real-time TV on their flight..major plus. I saw the Amazing Race, specifically the part that takes place in Istanbul. I don't which was better, the engaged American couple fighting atop the Galata Tower, or when the competing contestants had to weigh people in Eminonu..."a common Turkish practice". It's a lame show, but it was great to see all the kirolar:) Miss those people.

Up in High Country...

As some already know, I caught up with Nick Clark et al this weekend. Just to ease your nerves: Mr. Kansas, his Lollipop Lane Preschool friends, his dogs, and his sisters are doing just fine out in Denver!

Have been back in LA now for about 12 hours now, and am just starting to regain some feeling in my body;) Ah, another warm and sunny day out here. I can't believe it's only a 2 hour flight to winter wonderland. A cold winter wonderland. Seriously, Michigan has some brutal winter weather, but this was COLD. The only difference being that Denver is sunny and it boasts the Rockies. Great to spend some time over there. I haven't really been up in them since Colorado Outward Bound almost 10 years ago (!!), when I went camping for 3 weeks sin electricity/shower, etc. Not sure if I could do that again.

Colorado was simply beautiful (it helped that a whole bunch of snow fell the night I flew in). Funny how one weekend you can be enjoying summertime, either over beers in NZ or fishing in Chile in Nick's case, and the next you're snowmobiling on the Continental Divide in 10F degree weather;).

From our guide: "Okay, for this next segment, we'll be going around the side of a mountain, it's very important that you stay on track and don't go to your left. Just follow my tracks and you should be okay".

Yeah, left looked really, really, far down.

Anyway, I won't say that Nick and I were especially crazy last weekend, actually it was quite chill, but us old men need that sometimes;).




See ya out in Cali, duder.

This just in...

"It's snowing crazy here today, get ready! Not that cold tho"--N.C.


A SNOW ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT MST TONIGHT.
SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THIS EVENING ACROSS THE BOULDER AND DENVER METRO AREAS...AND THEN GRADUALLY DIMINISH BY MIDNIGHT. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 3 TO 7 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED...WITH THE HEAVIEST AMOUNTS SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 70.
A SNOW ADVISORY MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW WILL CAUSE SOME TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR SNOW COVERED ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES...AND USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.

Booyakasha!

Pop Quiz, Hot Shot

You live in a county of 10 million inhabitants. You live very close to the beach. Tens of thousands of gallons of raw sewage are dumped into the ocean after a sanitation pumping station malfunctions.

WHAT DO YOU DO?
WHAT DO YOU DO?

You get the F%ck outta dodge, that's what you do!!!

Good bye smelly ocean, hello crisp Colorado Rockies!

Enter @ Kansas Alum Nick Clark. He's hosted such infamous events as Lake Kansas, and he's had a blog before, when he spent a year in the Phillipines, and again when he spent a year in Santiago, Chile. The last time I saw this character we were in Bahia, Brazil for Carnaval 2005.

"Okay, if the driver turns down a narrow alley, grab him by his neck [about the taxi driver]" "Ah, Nick. we're already down a narrow alley" "Riiight...damn"

Não dá..., Não dá..., Pra ficar..., Pra ficar Sem te Ver Sou 100% você! See you in Denver, POS! Juvenile's trespasses shall not go unavenged!

Hail To the Victor's Valient.

Brown Jug sponsers Beer Pong duo that wins $5,000 in Vegas contest. Dios mio, I'm so proud of my alma-matar. I guess the lack of females really did pay off for some.

So-Cal or No-Cal.....

That is the question! HA! Been seeing some interesting "Nor Cal Sucks" bumperstickers popping up around town..as one burger friendly famous LA mistress would say: "Ohhhh, that's hot".

Good grief, if they think Northern California is bad, I'd love to see what they think about Michigan! Peroxide rage!

LA's Strongest Cup of Joe...

I spoke faster than Digs after 2 of cups of the friendly stuff at this most excellent establishment: King's Road Cafe.

Forgotten Gluttony..

Best Sushi in LA : Katsu of Manhattan Beach...
And I'm not just saying that because of the 99 cent beers during happy hour;) Seriously, their spicy tuna is ridiculous.

Back to Basics....

Some orders of business were def. in order esp. with Jam's sis Sam in town. Yup, I had the perfect excuse to hit up all good spots:)Oh yeah. House of Thai, Sunnin, and of course Neptune's Net. Ah, Thai, Lebanese, and as much seafood as you could stomach! If only I had some green NZ mussles to go with it! Still, it's no wonder why I'm getting HUGE out here!!!! Me no K!



Anyway, what a weekend! Road trips back down to my old stomping grounds Belmont Shore (they added a Sunnin on 2nd street, unbelievable!), through the OC, took a ferry around Newport Beach, and even drove up into the clouds overlooking Laguna Beach! Today, after spending a lazy day at Neptunes, we headed down to Venice Beach to listen to the drums as the sun set...can you feel the love!!? HA! Take heed! The aliens are coming! The aliens are coming!

Dental Update #1

58 minutes and $630 later, I'm gonna kill someone.

I love Akbil.

This Guy...

This guy leaves the states for 2 years, heads to Thailand, Saudi Arabia, UAE, the Ukraine, Taiwan, the Phillipines, Spain, I meet him in London, then he takes off to Qatar, Germany, Malaysia, Germany, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and then to Long Beach and flies out the day after I come in from New Zealand. Have fun in Qatar, dude.

Merkle, wherever you are man, God Speed. Awesome to catch up with you, even for a few hours. See you around somewhere else.

Note to all the alcoholics out there: Kiwi flavored vodka and candy cane peppermint shot glasses tastes like medicine. Worse than unicum, people:)

Ho, Ho, Ho, Belizeaaaaaaan Christmas

Yeah, the blog is out of order now.

bunnies version: new zealand trip

The little captions tell a litle story called New Zealand.

Chick Flick for Guys?

Flying back to the US, I had the opportunity to watch my first Kiwi-film! And, unlike what I've heard about Kiwi movies being quite depressing, this one was actually funny. It was great watching a movie like this after spending some time in the country, especially the part where the Kiwi comes to Los Angeles for the first time.."Oh, I reckin' this isn't a good place to grow old in" as the taxi driver curses him out, he drives on the wrong side of the road, and gets hit on by a transvestite;) HAHA! Anyway, if you get a chance to see "The World's Fastest Indian", it's worth a looksie. That's how I ROLL.

New Zealand Trekkin'

After we took a 3 hour ferry from the North Island to the South Island, it was Road Trippin' time. Tee posted this map of where we explored on the South Island. I made a few amendments:)



1. We made it up to Collingwood! How can you forget lunch, "Here's your beer, you can have a glass or be a man and drink it out of the bottle, mate" "Uh, yeah, I'll have a glass".

2. "End Is Near" from Wanaka. No road trip is complete without dirt roads and a herd of sheep blocking the road.

Kurban Bayrami in New Zealand? Allah Hallah Ya.

Just received some texts from lucky Istanbul;) It will be a sad year if I can't make it back to Turkey. Love that place. Happy Kurban Bayrami! For those who don't celebrate, it's typically a four day festival when sacrifical sheep are slaughtered and their meat is distributed amongst the poor. Como se dice "lamb kebab" en Turkish por favor? I've never been in a muslim country to actually experience this holiday, but I know it's a big special time in Turkey. It's really a shame New Zealand doesn't have this holiday. Imagine if New Zealanders were Turks. Outnumbered by sheep 1 to 10 (4 million versus 40 million sheep), it would be a slaughterfest! I can see Digs leading the pack of warrior Turks over the hills of the South Island, red crescent flags waving high in the air, the sheep running frantically...'Allah Hallah Allah Hallah Allah Hallah"

Entertaining TV... I missed it

Letterman and O'reilly and "Day-O" Belfonte.

Life under the Southern Cross

STAR TREKKING, ACROSS THE UNIVERSE...

We come in peace, shoot to kill shoot to kill!

hey hey, back in LA!

you know what they say

"if you don't go when you want to go when you do go you'll find you're gone"

Oh those Kiwis. What can I say. This is place that must be visited. Just took a solo trip along the Pacific down Vista Del Rey this evening and it just stuck in my head how much New Zealand blew my expectations...the sights, the people, the montieths. NZ is a place the world wishes it still was. Safe, efficient, smart, polite, and easy-going. And they eat lots of junk food. I really think everybody should New Zealand at least once in their lives but seriously stay away from the Lamb and Mint chips.

I wreckin' I'll have more to say about this amazing place, but I don't want to turn too many Aussie stomachs out there. Well Bloks and Sheilas, Australia better be a cool place, cause New Zealand is chill as hell. In the words of Quagmire and Paul Nadler "Giggidy Giggidy, Alright".

Chris and Tee get the big thanks for argruably the best hosting I've ever witnessed. From start to finish, ole Digs and I were treated like superstars, or at least like clowns (Mt. Victoria:) I know its been said before, but the best part about AIESEC is the network. When country names start to stir up faces in your mind and smiles on your face, the world suddenly becomes so much more colorful, so much more rich.

The only thing that revivals awesome hosts is the stunning natural beauty of New Zealand. 2 (3) Islands of just about everything you can ask for: sunny beaches, snow capped mountains, dense forests, vast plains, etc It got so bad Devrim told me just to take a swig of beer everytime I felt like pointing out how awe-inspiring the terrain was. LOTR doesn't do it justice.

Well I got heaps to do, so in the words of some Wellington graffiti... "George Bush is a poo poo". Shore. Way to go Kiwis. You stay classy, New Zealand.