More Street-Scene. Every few years I go to Street-Scene and for some reason or another, I decide that it's my last year. The venue always opens 45 minutes late, the bands are the same every year, and the stages are so densly packed into small areas, it's a mob scene. At least when it was on Fifth Avenue, you could go into a normal restaurant or bar for a break. When it was moved off Fifth, there was no escape and suddenly the food and beverage prices were just to expensive. This year the event was moved from the second weekend of September to July, and onto the stadium parking lot of Qualcomm. There were only a couple of repeat bands on the schedule and there were bands that I thought would be fun to see live. So, off I went. Parking was available at Qualcomm for $15 but we were encouraged to take the trolley. Okay, parking at Hazard Center, $8, trolley tickets for two, $9. At $17, we're now over the parking price and it turns out, the parking lot was nearly empty. I...
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It always begins with a beer or two! Last night I was off to Street Scene and the plan called for pre-event dinner and beer at Trophey's. Little did I know that these would be my only two beers of the evening. When we arrived at the concert, we missed the nice short ID line outside the gates and the security guy told us we could get our wristbands inside. Bad move on our part! The lines were over an hour long! We could either drink a beer or miss the bands that we paid for. We chose music. I'll post on the bands and my impressions of this year's Street Scene later. It's only 9:00 am and I'm already behind schedule for today's activities!
This is the contraption that is affixed to the condo wall. Each morning the workers climb on the roof and start scraping off layers of rock and gunk. They pound and chip away at the roof, then push it all to the side and pour it down the chute into the truck below. So far, no accidents. This is Day 4 now, with no end in site. I've taking to wearing earplugs in the house!
Regardless of how I never have time to clean the house, tidy up my office, or do other chores, I still managed to finish off "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." This has become my new favorite book in the series, right after "Goblet of Fire." The last book had too much going on and the focus was off the kids. In this new book, Harry is the central figure again and once I got going, it was a page turner! One reviewer commented that this was JK Rowlings "Empire Strikes Back!" and I think that about covers it. For original SW fans, Empire was always the strongest of the three and it's still my favorite of the six. Now we have to begin the long wait before the last book when we finally learn the outcome of Harry and He Who Must Not Be Named. The roof work is still going on. It's day three and the roofers are working 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. I don't know how they survive the heat.
Now vacation truly seems far away! It's already been over two weeks since I returned home and now work is threatening to override all that wonderful relaxation! To make matters worse, in the middle of this heat wave, the roofers have arrived to redo our condo roofs and hot tar is getting poured on the building. It's just to hot to concentrate or think clearly. This is impacting my back to school strategy of writing all the rough draft essays this week so I can be ahead of schedule. It's just so hard to concentrate. I thought I would be all smart and take a test with only a half effort at studying and the results were not good! Luckily I get two more chances to take the test so I have been practicing. Tomorrow I'm off to El Centro and visiting the land of sand dunes doesn't seem as appealing as it did a month ago. Oh well, work calls! At the end of the week is San Diego's annual Street Scene, except 6 weeks early and in the stadium parking lot instead of t...
The Faces of Joy
LJ and Ms. Kitty asked me to put some thought into this post. After all, these two innocent looking faces had just moments before caused a near total panic at Karl Strauss. In fact, their reaction to good news was so strong, I thought the walls were about to come down and the glass shatter all over! Luckily, the building stayed intact. LJ was the ringleader. She decided that a Saturday beer was in order and we agreed to meet in the afternoon. I knew Ms. Kitty would never forgive us if we beered without her, so I gave her a call. Yup, she was in! We all did our things that day to get ready for beer. LJ went and had a massage, Ms. Kitty and I went out and exercised to pre-burn our beer calories. It was hot and muggy and a perfect day to find a/c. At this point, we were still our normal selves. Ms. Kitty was dreaming of Oatmeal Stout, since as a seasonal beer, it's not always available. When we checked the beer menu, Oatmeal Stout was not on the list. There was a 10th tap...
Earlier this year I bought my first Disney annual pass. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it is expensive and now I need to start getting my money's worth. Luckily the perfect opportunity arose this week as Space Mountain finally reopened after a long closure. I thought the whole ride had been remodeled to have the loops and twist that are in Euro Disney, but no. The city of Anaheim was not going to approve that without all new plans, approvals, and permits, so we have the same old track, due to red tape. The good folks at Disney came up with a way to make the ride better even if it's the same! I even walked off dizzy and that's never happened. With the use of strobe lights, and space style visuals, to the sound of high impact music, the ride is fun again. It even seems faster but that's probably an illusion. I was there Thursday night and the park was packed. Space Mountain was an hour wait, and since that's why we were there, we waited. Buzz Lig...
Yesterday was good-bye to Jimmy Doohan, and it was a sad day in Trekdom as we said farewell to Scotty. So much has been said in the last 24 hours. Jimmy was a guest on my first Trek cruise back in 93. He was a gracious man and he made it a point to sit down and talk to every fan at some point on that cruise. It was one of the stranger and speechless moments of my life to find Scotty sitting down and chatting with me. Too bad me and my friends were so starstruck that day. We couldn't carry a conversation but we still appreciated that he said hello.
This year I did Comic-Con lite. There were 14 different tracks of programming, 3 rooms running anime, a SF movie film room, and between the Dealer's Room and hanging out with friends, the con can be an overloading sensory experience. The crowds have increased each year, since Hollywood has turned to Comic-Con to preview and bring out all their stars to try and sell the fans on the movie. With people like Charlize Theron, Jack Black, Adrian Brody, Naomi Watts, Natalie Portman, Kevin Smith, Rob Zombie, Kate Beckinsale, Eva Mendes, just to name .25% of the guests, the rooms get packed and there's a long wait to see these people. So I skipped the big studio panels this year and stayed with the small screen. First off was a preview of the new Nightstalker TV series. We were shown the pilot and the creator and stars were there afterwards to do a Q&A. I thought the show was so boring that I walked out and went to watch Japanese anime. When it was time to go back to Room 20 a...
It's time for a bit of silliness. Every summer San Diego is host to the largest convention of it's kind, Comic-Con International. It takes up the entire convention center (which is huge) and you can buy pretty much anything in the dealer's room. Fans dress up (for better or worse) as their favorite character from comics, tv, movies, or made-up, and it's truly a site to see! For the uniniated, it's truly intimidating. The first thing I do is check out the dealer's room to see the displays and goods. This year, I found the Christmas tree of my heart. 100% Star Wars with the cutest Yoda's ever!
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
In this summer of remakes and sequels, it is nice to find a movie that lives up to audience expectations. This latest offering of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a fun movie that visualizes the book and provides an eerie glimpse into the world of Roald Dahl. The movie is getting overshadowed by the debate of remake or not, Depp or Wilder, musical or straight. I loved Willie Wonka as a child, but this version is far truer to the book and the story that most of us read long ago. The sets could have been drawn up right out of the book. When we first see Charlie’s house and the grandparents all in the bed, it looks oddly right. Charlie’s family are just as they should be and cabbage soup never looked so homey. The whole city is bleak and overcast but once we’re inside the factory, the magic happens and we all want to live next to the chocolate river. Oompa Loompas have always been creepy little guys and inside this chocolate factory, they’re even creepier. First off, they’re all the ...
It was only fitting that on a Star Trek cruise, I should find a Star Trek/Space themed McDonalds in Helsinki! Will the wonders of the universe never cease! It was my desire for a diet coke that brought us to this place! Everyone eating kept their heads down and did their best to ignore the two crazy Americans! This was just too cool to not take pictures and my inner geek was unleashed!
Dark Water
The tagline for Dark Water is "Some mysteries were never meant to be solved" and they mean it. Brought to us by the creators of The Ring and The Ring 2, this is another thriller that probably translated well in the original 2002 Japanese version but doesn’t quite live up to expectations in this remake. I knew going into the movie that the ending had no resolution and the movie never built up momentum, but it did have great acting. I have to echo that sentiment both Jennifer Connelly and John C. Reilly provide excellent performances. Dark Water does try to be different from other ghost stories but at the heart of the drama, you have to think "just move!" If my home started developing killer mold in the ceiling and moldy water was constantly dripping down, I’d be gone. Forget any ghosts, I’m far more concerned about mold and what can come out of a ceiling. There lies the problem with the storyline, because we know the main characters have friends and places where th...
I'll share some random photos with you today. First off, I don't know if this needs any explanation but it is the place to get ice cream in Copenhagen! The next pair of photos are from Malmo, Sweden. Malmo is a short train ride from Copenhagen and makes for a fun day trip. The best to see the city is on a canal boat.
War of the Worlds
In my week of movie catch up, I hadn’t planned on seeing War of the Worlds . From the trailers, it looked like another disaster movie that was going to be driven by special effects and no plot. A friend told me I had to see it, so off I went. I didn’t change my mind. The telling point of any movie is how the audience reacts. As is the case in Carlsbad, there was only a handful of people in the theater so we could hear everyone’s conversation. The first 45 minutes of the movie, one man kept telling his wife how ridiculous various scenarios were and no one even tried to sshhh! him. We were all in agreement. After the first hour, there was no point in the man telling his wife how contrived the movie was, as it was apparent to all of us. If you’ve read the book or seen the 1953 version, you know the basics. Aliens land on earth in giant ships, proceed to destroy everything in their path, and then are finally done in. (I’ll leave that part out, just in case you have no idea how the aliens a...
The Peter and Paul Fortress is where all the Russian Czars are buried, including the last Czar, Nicholas II and his family. In 1998, their remains were placed inside after the long process of DNA identification in the 1990's. The fortress was the first building in the capital and is located near the city center. During the czar's regime, the fortress was used to imprison political opponents, very similar to the Tower of London.
The Moika river runs along part of old historic St. Petersburg and leads out to the Neva river. Along the way are former palaces, churches, cathedrals, and monuments. Our starting point was near the Yusopov Palace, the site where Rasputin was poisoned, blugeoned, and then finally taken away to be dumped in the Neva river. As you cruise along the canal, there are plenty of bridges and old city structures to view. Heading out to the Neva river, the palaces get much larger and grander in scale!
Fantastic Four
It's time to take a break from the Baltic and discuss pop culture events. First off, it's only two days until the biggest event of the year - the San Diego Comic Book convention. This is the largest convention of it's kind in the world and it's not just about comics. Anything related to the larger world of comics, science fiction, fantasy, animation, anime, independent film, writing, television, movies, and fun can be found here. For more info: www.comic-con.org To kick things off for the weekend, I thought I'd start getting caught up on movies. When I was a kid, Fantastic Four was one of my favorite comics. I thought they were a cool group and I was always a bit freaked out by the Thing aka Ben. The movie trailer looked great and with the success of Spiderman and Batman , I had high hopes that FF would be a really fun movie. Sadly, while elements of the comic are there, and the visuals are good, the story just falls flat. The movie spends so much time showing...
When we arrived in Stockholm, we easily found where our fellow Trekkers were waiting for us. This had to be one of the best welcoming banners of the trip! Once we passed through the security gate, we found our new friends! We all headed off to take the ferry to the Vasa Museum. The museum houses the Royal warship Vasa, who in 1628, rolled over and sank on her maiden voyage before ever leaving the Stockholm harbor. This was the most expensive and well decorated naval vessel and the King's pride and joy, until the moment it sank to the bottem of the sea. The ship remained on the ocean floor until 1956, when it was discovered and went through a detailed recovery process to bring the ship back to the surface. It remains well preserved and intact to this day. There are interactive exhibits throughout the museum that give you a glimpse into life on the ship. Here is a miniature replica of the Vasa. Just below is our trusty ferry to get around town. This was the bonus trip. Since we had...
Baltic Blog - Life on the Ship
I haven't posted much about the ship or the food. Each morning I have room service bring me a pot of coffee. Once I wake up, I go to the gym and work out because I know I have a day of eating ahead of me. After the gym, it's time to clean up and go to the Lido Deck for breakfast. You can get anything but I usually have fruit, muffin, eggs, and sometimes pancakes. After breakfast there's usually enough time to run back to the cabin and grab my gear before going into port. Depending on the length of time I spend in port, I'm back on the ship for lunch. Sometimes it's the taco/burger bar, sometimes the salad bar, sometimes regular food, but always the dessert bar! After lunch there's time to hang out at the pool or jacuzzi, have a drink, take a nap, or participate in the ship's activities. There's a full casino, plenty of trivia challenges, the internet cafe, a sports deck, and my favorite - the spa! There always seems to be some event where free c...
Baltic Blog - Warnemunde, Germany
What a change! It's been over 80 degrees in every port but when we arrived in Germany it was cloudy and a chance of rain. The port was Warnemunde and our destination was Rostock. I didn't know this before the cruise, but both of these cities were located in the former East Germany and were both heavily bombed during the war. Today, the cities are modern and very little remains of the old buildings. Rostock is where we were headed to see the the 13th-century city hall and 12th century St. Mary's Church. And of course, there was a city wall! Now I'll admit it, the main reason I was on this tour is that I was promised beer. Hour after hour went by and no beer. (Well okay, it did start at 8:30 am but I'm on vacation!) At any rate, we ended up on a canal boat and the promised beer came my way! It was a Rostocker Pils and slightly bitter. It was big and it was welcome. I had another and the day was complete!
Baltic Blog - Visby, Sweden
This island is in the middle of the Baltic Sea, and off the coast of Sweden. It's the place where Swedes go for summer vacation. It's also the place where I got complete and total vacation overload. Visby has the ancient wall, towering fortresses, rambling roads, and the pleasant countryside where you can wander about. It's also full of shops and tourists. The old city is small enough that you can wander around and not get lost. It has wonderful views of the sea. I was just done with it all at the moment. If anyone is a costumer and goes to Ren Faire, Visby is the place to go. There is a big festival there every year and many of the Trek fans are planning to come back. I'm sure it will be great. I was just so happy to get back to the ship and eat lunch, take a nap, and later work out in the gym. It is time to do double gym duty now, since after over a week of non-stop eating and drinking, my clothes are getting a little tight!
Baltic -Blog - back at sea
Stockholm, Sweden was a great day! First, a group of about 20 Stockholm Trekkers met us at the dock with a wonderful welcome! We had a group of 7 cruise trekkers and 5 or 6 Stockholm Trekkers together for the day to check out the sites and then go to a SF bookstore for Robert and Garrett's booksigning event. I have so many pictures that I'll post when I get home! First up was the Vasa Museum, which contains an entire ship that sank in 1628 before it ever made it's maiden voyage. The ship keeled over right before the first sailing and was lost to sea until 1956, when it was found and brought back to land. Because the ship was so well preserved, only a minimal amount of work has been needed to preserve it. The fun thing about being with the Stockholm Trekkers, is that we were able to see the city through each other's eyes. We had the added bonus of simply by being Trek fans, we were all able to get along. There are a lot of waterways in Stockholm and we took the fer...
Baltic Blog - Helsinki
Wonder of wonders! With all the historical sightseeing, I found myself craving a diet coke. And since there seems to be a McDonalds every few blocks in Helsinki, I went into one to get my diet coke fix. As I tried to figure out what size I wanted and how many euros it would cost, my eyes drifted upwards and fixated on a DS9 clock! I did a double take! I tried to ask about it but the cashier didn't really speak english. At that moment, LJ turned the corner and started shouting. We had stumbled into a McDonalds that had an interior decor dedicated to US Space Missions/Star Trek and 60's SF memorabilia! If only the owner had been around. It was too good to pass up the photo op, so I resigned myself to looking like an idiot and took a few pictures. I'll post those when I get home. There were cool building and fun sightseeing in Helsinki. I even did some shopping. But I'll remember this port for the Star Trek McDonalds!
Baltic Blog - St. Petersburg Day 2
"Murder on the Moika" was the title for today's shore excursion. We had an afternoon river cruise and then a trip to Yusopov Palace where Rasputin was murdered. It was another sunny day with a high of 80 and the locals were melting. They are too used to cold and snow here! We left the ship without any hassle from customs today. It was a quick trip through security and then we were off! The boat took us around the canals of St. Peterburg and it really is a lot like Venice except for all the palaces! We were able to weave around all the historic buildings and go out on the Neva River. Because Ms. Kitty is so into Nicolas and Alexandra, I took a picture for her of the Peter and Paul Catherdral, where the royal family is buried. After enjoying the sunny cruise, it was off to Yusupov palace to learn about Felix Yusupov and why he had a role in murdering Rasputin. We went down to the lower rooms and saw a wax museum type of recreation of the plotters and the table with ...
Baltic Blog - St. Petersburg
Russia is a tricky country to get into, even for cruise ship passengers. We have to book a trip through the ship and then go through customs at the port, just to get in. We're not allowed to go on our own, or ditch the guide. The passports get stamped as you go in and out, and I may end up with multiple Russia stamps due to having more than one tour. To go on your own, you have to secure a visa ($190) before you leave home. I took the easy way on this trip. Today's shore excursion was to the Hermitage. I know this will not go over well with art lovers, but after the Louvre and Versailles, the Hermitage was one big boring blur of art! At least now I can say I've been there, done that! Since the whole 4 hours were dedicated to getting through customs, traffic, and then the museum, we were done and back on the ship at 1:30. I finally have a chance to relax! The spa was offering 50% off specials so I had a massage (so relaxing,) wrote a couple of postcards for my non-ne...
Baltic Blog - Estonia
I had no expectations about Tallinn, Estonia. I knew it was an old city and part of the former Soviet Union. I knew it was on the Baltic. That was it. As the ship approaced the port, I could see the Russian influence of the onion domed architecture and about a bazillion churces. It was green. Lisa and I got off the ship and made our destination the high point in town. We walked up and down cobblestone streets and looked at old towers and walls. This city is a World Heritage Site for it's preservation of the old buildings. We walked up and down some more. It hit the level of ABC (another beautiful, church, country, castle) very quickly. Then things picked up! We sat down for a beer. The beer was good. And then we had another and I suddenly liked Estonia! I know you've been wondering "where is the beer?" It was in Tallinn! In the main square are many small outdoor cafes. You know what beer they serve by looking at the umbrellas. I walked around and looked...
Baltic Blog - still at sea
Okay, we just finished up with the Captain's reception and are awaiting dinner. I was brave today and played Trek Taboo. My team took the first round but we got overconfident on the final round and ended up getting beat by a weaker team! Lesson learned and we vowed not to repeat that mistake on the next challenge! Our Trek actors this time are Robert Picardo (Voyager Doctor,) Garrett Wang (Harry Kim, Voyager,) and John De Lancie (Q.) We had a music hour with Robert and Marnie (John's wife) and it was a fun filled hour. Trek SFX genius Ron Moore gave a great CGI presentation today about his work on Enterprise. There was a lot of detail given to the Nazi alternate reality universe episode: "In a Mirror, Darkly." Now it's time for dinner and I am ready to eat again! After all, a cruise is all about eating when you feel "less full." Tomorrow I'll be in Tallinn, Estonia. Stay tuned for that report!