Day 3 (Tuesday) was nice and mellow. Got up, had breakfast and then visited another Indian Casino (Dad loves slot machines). Money went fast as usual and we left in about 30 minutes. Then we had lunch at the Phoenix Art Museum where my friend Tammy works as their Membership and Visitor Services Manager. Staff was very nice and somehow they all seem to know me (code name The Wizard), but I don’t know them. Some highlights were meeting the creator of the hamster wizard (super nice person) and the IT Director. Got to preview the server room and viewing other server rooms always makes me feel proud of ours at SBMA!

Later that night, went to Peoria Sports Complex to catch one of the last spring training games (Brewers vs. Padres). Game was fun and there was this crazy vendor that was very loud but hilarious. He reminded me of the Chef from South Park. One of his rhymes was “Fresh cold lemonade, just like grandma made. mmmmm…. baby!”. I got a video of it, will post later on you tube.

Tomorrow is Viva Las Vegas!!! My friend Chuck is driving up and I am also going to hang out with some friends from Acuity-VCT that are in town for the security tradeshow (may even check that out too, I am sure they got some neat gadgets).

Next post will be from sin city!

Wow, driving a Mercedes sure is nice. Not sure how I am going to feel going back to the caribou. Left early Sunday (6:40 AM) and arrived at our hotel around 2:30 PM. Made lots of restroom stops along the way. The most interesting stop was by the summit where there was a General Patton tank museum. Took lots of photos of tanks and then continued on. Traffic was a breeze and had very little on the whole trip. The new thing I noticed are camera enforcement zones, which are basically cameras on the highway that will snap your photo and send you a ticket via email. They use to only have those on the 101/202 loop out here, but now they are on the 10 coming into Phoenix. Somebody told me Arizona wants to put them all the way to the border!

After arriving, we all (Dad, Tammy, and I) went to Rawhide for some old west bbq food. Was damn good. Also tried their pale ale that they brew there and that had a nice taste to it. Inside of the restaurant there was a country band playing some shit kicking music that all of a sudden went to Simon and Garfunkel songs, go figure. Unfortunatley it was around 9 PM, so we did not see any gunfights, oh well…maybe next time.

On Monday, Dad and I explored. Went to a military airplane museum out in Mesa, AZ. Was pretty cool. The museum is ran by mostly volunteers and is an actual working musuem where they restore old war plane. They had everything there from bombers to jets and the volunteers were awesome. They knew tons about the planes and had a passion. Most were in the air force themselves. After that, we visited Fountain Hills to see their Veteran’s Memorial and then headed over to Fort. McDowell Casino. The memorial was beautiful right on the lake. The casino sucked…smokey and money went way too fast. Later in the afternoon I went to Ikea to by some more forks (only have 2 at home, kind of getting annoying) and then took Dad to Rock Bottoms for a burger and I had their pale ale…very nice.

Later that night I met up with one of of my vendors that use to work at Insight and is now at MicroAge. We went to Dos Gringos, was great. Outside patio bar and they have a great happy hour for $2 Pacificos. Thanks Shawn for the beers!

Tomorrow, Dad and I will be visiting another casino (Lone Butte) and then visiting my friend Tammy at the Phoenix Art Museum for lunch. Then the spring training ball game tomorrow night (Padres vs Brewers), woo hoo!

Wow, it sure has been a while since I have updated my blog. Life has been super busy the last month with work projects and personal life (yes, I know…the blog is part of my personal life). Figured it is time to start again as I am leaving tomorrow for a mini road trip with my Dad. We are heading to Phoenix - AZ for three days, then visiting the Grand Canyon, and finally ending up in fabulous Las Vegas. Arizona should be action packed, visiting with my good friend Tammy, catching a spring training ball game, and going to raw hide old west town. Vegas will also be full of excitement as Dan and Randy from Ohio are coming to town along with my buddy Chuck who is driving in from Santa Barbara.

So now on to the first marking that this trip is going to be GREAT. I went to go rent the car tonight and I reserved a Dodge Charger (basically a full size car). I go there and they have NO full size cars. All they got is a Cobalt and a piece of shit Chevy Aveo. Looking at my Dad and I in this car…not happening, it would be like a clown car. I am not really interested in either of those and have the attitude if I don’t get the car I want, I walk out and just take our Mustang. Must be my lucky night cause they have a Mercedes C300 available. I got it for a few bucks more than my other rental, score!!!! The car is awesome and full of tech gadgets, so yeah…I am pretty much in heaven right now. Have already thumbed through the owners manual and got my phone paired with the car. w00t! w00t!

I will try to update this daily during the trip, but may be difficult depending on Interweb access.

The Mercedes C300, Score!,
click to view more

Tonight I went to watch Tim and Patricia win the Territory Ahead tennis finals. It was a long journey form the beginning and they are now the champs. The best part is they have a lot of fun while playing. Congrats to the Hogans!

Tim and Patricia, Da Champs
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Tim Got Game
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So Does Patricia
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Today is like a holiday, it is super bowl day! Went over to the Webleys to partake in some super bowl action. Tried some washershoes (like horseshoes, but with giant washers)…I think Webley made it up but as with most games, I sucked badly at it. Had tons of food and lots of beer, highlighted food was cream cheese wontons…they were awesome! Of course the chicken wings were great too…two different sauces. Game was exciting at the end, 35 seconds to go and the Steeler’s got it back. Favorite commercial was the budweiser add where the clydesdale grabs a tree limb to show off as he was feeling a bit lonely when the dog got all of the attention. Also watched a commerical in 3D and wore some sporty Intel 3D glasses. Thanks to the Webleys for hosting the super bowl party!

3D Webley - click to view more

3D JoeDaddy - click to view more

Washershoes - click to view more

At the State & A after party tonight for Mickey Rourke, we got to visit with Efren Ramirez, who was Pedro in Napolean Dynamite! Very exciting! He is a super cool guy and I don’t think many people realized who he was. I would not have recognized him if it was not for Chuck…I always have a hard time recognizing people anyways. Mr. Ramirez is part of the judge panel at the SBIFF and we all chatted about the festival. Then, I just had to ask to take a photo (for Theresa and Josh).

Perfect ending to the Santa Barbara International Film Festival!!!

Efren Ramirez (Pedro from Napolean Dynamite) and me - click to view more

Vote for Pedro! - click to view more

Haha, tonight was one of the best interviews I have seen at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Not as cool as Clint Eastwood, but definitely edgy and free talking. Mickey Rourke (latest movie The Wrestler) ran on stage when he was announced and threw a stuff plush toy of some sorts into the audience. It looked like a wrestling moment. His outfit for the evening was bad ass too. Shiney clothing, sweet ass shirt, red shoes, and some blinging rings. This interview was hilarious as Mickey Rourke just tells it like it is. A few cuss words here and there and he is brutally honest. At one point during the interview, he left the stage and was a bit late in returning (this was during a clip review on the screen)…wonder where he went? He was joking as he was checking his zipper and belt. The American Riviera Award was presented to Mr. Rourke by the world famous director Francis Coppola (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now). This was a huge surprise.

The party was at State & A afterwards..nice and mellow. Tonight was the last major event for the SBIFF. It sure has been fun to go to everything and I feel very fortunate to have been given the opportunity!

Mickey Rourke, Arlington Theater - click to view more

Mickey Rourke Interview- click to view more

Took a break tonight from the SBIFF as we had some serious birthday celebrating to do! First up was Dargan’s at 6 PM to celebrate birthdays of Michelle S. and I (we make it last as long as possible). Was a lot of fun. Charles’ birthday is Sunday, so after Dargans we headed over to Sandbar. Then finally ended up at the shitty kitty (Wildcat), where I geniously made up (or remembered) the double sprinker with Dana. Great times for sure! Happy Birthday Charles!

Molly, me, Dana, and Charles…uh huh - click to view more

Dargans, Anne and I - click to view more

Dana and Will - click to view more

Tonight was the highlight of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the Modern Master Award for Clint Eastwood! The lines were long but with our precious platinum passes, we went right in. I took my Dad to this one as he is a huge fan of Clint Eastwood and we have watched many films with Mr. Eastwood. Our seats were great, about 14 rows from the front and had a perfect view of the interview by film critic Leonard Maltin. Dad and I got there early, so we saved seats for friends Nan and Michelle. It is really amazing to see all the different films the Clint Eastwood has either been in or directed. His latest movie Gran Torino is a piece of beauty. The actual award was presented by Sean Penn…who was HILARIOUS! Started out by stating the Mr. Eastwood was born as a 11 pound man (not a baby) and his first words were “gggrrrrrrrrr” (which he does a lot in Gran Torino).

After the award presentation, I dropped Dad off and picked up my buddy Chuck to go to the after party hosted at The Harbor Restaurant. Was not too excited by the location, but actually was nice. Lots of tables and felt more like having a dinner than a “party”…but free food, free alcohol, and great company…what more do you really need?

Clint Eastwood Interview - click to view more

Dad with his Platinum Pass - click to view more

Nan, Michelle, and I at After Party - click to view more

Chuck and I at After Party - click to view more

Took a break tonight from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and went over to Patricia & Tim’s for some much needed LOST action! 2nd week of season 5, very exciting stuff. The show is getting so crazy that people are now travelling in time and we saw the young Charles Widmore tonight! You can really mess your head up with time travelling. The highlight of the night was our arranging of our actions figures. Only photos can really describe….

Oh, and tomorrow is Clint Eastwood…“You’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya punk?”

They climbed the dart and found Drumstick Mountain! now Sawyer, Sayid, Kate,
John, and Jack can all celebrate. - click to view more

Mr. Opp, you know me! John goes uh huh, Kate blinging it, Sayid rolling,
Sawyer waving them in the air, Jack robotic, uhhh! - click to view more