Lobstah Squad

Last weekend, my boy Zac from AK made it back down for a vacay with his fiance. She is still in Palm Springs working and living with her Mom. Zac is just in for a visit and to make it out to StageCoach, the big country music festival in the Coachella Valley just outside of Palm Desert and Palm Springs. I rolled in before lunch on Saturday and while the girls were shopping he and I hit up the Tilted Kilt for lunch. The servers all dress in tiny plaid skirts and wear school girl leggings and tiny tops. Definite eye candy. Of course, in that line of business, the airier they seem, the more tips they get. Zac was an instant hit being from Alaska still. Of course, he screwed it up but not taking advantage of a perfect opportunity to make up a perfectly good lie. He does remote logistics, but I told him it would sound a lot cooler if he was a polar bear sperm collector :) ensuring the species would never become extinct as long as he has a job. But no... he has to tell the truth all the time. BORING!
After lunch, we headed up to Desert Hot Springs. Last year we went to the 'upscale' springs, this time, we went redneck. Holy crap. What a difference. But even the sight of a 65 year tatted biker granny kept me from enjoying the hot relaxing waters of the desert. There really wasn't too bad of a sulphur smell. It was hot out too, so we ended up spending as much time in the cooling pool as anywhere else. After about 4 hours we were pruny enough to call it a day. We cleaned up and headed to the casino for the requisite ayce Lobstah buffet. There was no wait whatsoever and before we knew it, lobster was coming out of our ears, shortly followed by another orifice. Blackjack was the post dinner game of choice for the boys, while Heather hit up the slots. The dealers were not nice to Zac and he got something like 100 13s, 14s and 15s in a row and went down pretty quickly. Lady Luck was smiling on me though and in short order I made enough to pay him back for dinner in chips, then I went up another hundred before dropping back down to scratch, then a couple big bets got me back up and I finished about $50 up. We were all jonesing for a sweet beverage and hit up the 7/11 on the way home. Sunday morning, we grabbed breakfast with Heather's mom and talked about Stage Coach, they already had their tickets for the fest. I used my winnings to thank them for a place to crash by picking up the breakfast tab. Heather had to work so Zac and I did some guns and ammo shopping and he actually found some 5.56 at Walmart of all places. We hit up a half dozen shops and killed a few hours before meeting Heather for lunch at Reds a little hole in the wall seafood bar. We snacked on peel and eat and devoured a couple fish tacos, cervezas and margaritas. We decided a thousand steps would help the digestion and went for a walk on the strip. i saw the 50' Marilyn statue and looked up her skirt at her giant panties. Perv. I've got pics on my phone but forgot my usb cord, so you will have to wait for a later post. We grabbed some cold Stone and did some more shopping before dropping heather back at work dropping Zac at the house and heading back up north for Sunday night television, which I so dearly love these days.

The G.I.s of Comedy

Thursday night we hosted the GIs of Comedy Tour consisting of Thom Tran, Jose Sarduy and Tom Irwin. All are former or active military working as comics. The show was hilarious, wall to wall laughs. Unfortunately, due to changes in the training calendar a lot of soldiers were not able to make it out. For my part, I helped the guys get set-up and as usual took care of loose ends like projectors, adjusting lights and running the sound. It was a great time and I highly recommend the show to anyone that is fortunate to see them.

We used the stage in our Rec Center. The guys brought the flags. Tom and Tom were Army and Jose is still in the Air Force. 

Adjusting lights. Things do get hot!

The Habaneros staff was serving adult beverages. 

 The crowd wasn't huge, only 75 or so, but still an okay turnout.

The Garrison Commander MC'ed the opening. He loves this stuff.

Thom Tran

They used his caricature for Black Ops 2. He is every Vietnamese soldier in the game. 

This is the photo that helped him decide to stop drinking.

He's done a couple Active Duty tours downrange. He got shot in the back of the head. 

Jose Sarduy (pronounced Sar dooey)

He did a lot of jokes about his Cuban family and heritage. 

Tom Irwin is a new parent, the look of exhaustion is real. 

A lot of his jokes were about the younger generation and how easy they have it. Agreed. 

At the end, they did story time, which was informal and fun. 

Tom talking about getting smacked in the junk. 

Afterwards, they sold some merch to help GIs past and present. I can't wait to have them back in the Fall. 

Alpine village Store

I forgot to upload the pics of the store at Alpine Village. The store was the best part of the whole place. Lots of imported chocolate and tons of meats you won't find at many chain grocers. The bakery smelled heavenly as well. I only grabbed a few items though since I planned on staying in the city for a few more hours, nothing that needed refrigeration could go on my list. 

Yep, lots of head cheese.

Beautiful sausages.

Oh so Yummy!!

HOLLYWOODLAND Walkabout

I've interviewed for 3 different jobs since Christmas and while I haven't been selected for any of them, if the pace continues it is only a matter of time before I'll be leaving Fort Irwin. I've done a lot of sightseeing since I've been here but there are still some major things I haven't seen. Los Angeles proper is one of them. So last Saturday I decided to make a day of it and what a great day it turned out to be. I headed down the hill and the first stop was the Griffith Park Farmer's Market. There wasn't much happening, still too early in the season. So I hopped back in the Prius and drove the park. I checked out the Greek Theater and drove by the observatory. It was crazy crowded though so I didn't stay long. Somethings are better left to week days rather than weekends. As I left the park, I realized I was close to Hollywood, so I hopped on Sunset and drove it all the way from downtown. When it ran out, I jumped across to Hollywood Blvd and drove back into town running smack dab into the Chinese Theater and the Walk of Stars. It was pretty crowded with street performers and tourists, so I kept on cruising checking out the neighborhoods in the area. I decided Beverly Hills was next, I wanted to see Rodeo Drive and what all the fuss was about. I wandered through the side streets looking at houses and beautiful yards finally ending up on Rodeo. It is just a couple blocks of shops, but I guess it doesn't have to be big if it is ridiculously expensive. I then headed into the business district winding my way through the streets just looking at the city scape as I cruised along. Like a lot of big cities, it was fairly quiet on the weekend with no one at work. I decided to head to the beach and headed down to Redondo. The character of the beaches to the South of LAX are very different than those up toward Malibu. The beaches are pure sand for miles and miles without any change, just straight beach break. It's probably why I don't know them as well, no point breaks, no consistent surfable waves, so I wouldn't have read about them in surfing mags or books.
When I hit Torrance, I headed back inland to Alpine Village for some German food. I was kind of disappointed, while the market had a LOT of great food items, the shops and restaurant were just okay. The restaurant being more of a cafeteria and the polka guy playing americana as polka, a lot of Springsteen. The Schnitzle was good but no spaetzle and the kraut and potatoes were just okay. I was hoping for some high end German snobbery. No such luck. I decided to roll back into the city when it hit me that ASI, the folks that did a play for us a few months ago, likely had a show going. I sent Emily a text and they indeed have a show at 730. I got directions and headed back into Hollywood to their building, which coincidently is a block from the Chinese theater with stars on their sidewalk out front. WOW. As I drove by I noticed they had free parking, so i called her and she had security park me in the staff garage where the actors park. Cool.
I had some time to kill so I wandered through Hollywood. I didn't realize that the Chinese theater area is actually a mall. Stores to see and nooks and crannys to explore. I grabbed a slice of pizza and checked out some shops, watched street performers, read the names on stars and generally just meandered around for awhile. Finally it was time for the show and I headed back to the theater. I was the first one there, so I waited for the doors to open. Emily finally found me and showed me to my seat, fron row center. It was actually kind of awkward, as I never expect the royal treatment. The little theater only seat around a hundred or so, really there's not a bad seat in the house. Emily and I talked about doing another show at Irwin and the possibility of bringing soldiers down to Hollywood to see the shows there and so some sightseeing as well. The show was a story of a pilot just prior to WWII in Japan. It was a pretty good one, albeit short. Afterwards, we headed up to the reception area to meet everyone. Emily gave me a personal tour of their building and explained their different goings on. Suddenly someone said the actors were there and before I knew what was happening, I was standing in the middle of them for a photo. It was kind of surreal, sort of being the center of attention. I have that photo on my work email, so I'll try to remember to post it next week. Emily and I then finished talking shop and I headed home getting in around 1 a.m. A long day, but overall pretty cool.

fun fountain in the middle of the mall

street performers, break dancing gymnasts. also one of the many open top tourist buses cruising the city.

The open center of the mall

LA skyline from Hollywood Mall Roof area

break dancers. sidewalk is so smooth and perfect for it. 

Django Unchained on the Family Weekend, um, don't think so!!

Chinese Theater

This kid 'REALLY' wants to be famous. :)