I took this picture with my phone's camera (NOT a smart phone) so

the quality is not very good. This was a Christmas gift. It is of course

a vampire who has a head full of grass seed. Water him, and he has a

head full of grass. Yeah, it's all fun and games until you see
the blood on his teeth.

This is the old entrance to the Valley View Casino in the San Diego

area. I think they've redone the whole thing. This used to be a nice

place to go to on occasion. Of all the casinos in the area, this one

was the least crowded and has a great buffet. Now that they offer

a free lobster dinner when you join for free, the place is mobbed. I don't
gamble, but friends do.

The corporation I worked at for years and years used to do the annual company

night at Disneyland thing. In 1995 when the "Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple

of the Forbidden Eye" ride opened, we received a package with our tickets that

included these promotional pins/buttons. I have a couple of them.

I very seldom play the California Lottery but today my mom asked if

I would stop and buy her a ticket for the Mega Millions game. So I did and

I bought one for myself also. When I was younger I bought one every week. Not

so much to win, but each week it was a little inexpensive outing for my son

and I. Go buy a lottery ticket and a Coke and hang together for a while.

 

So now I have a ticket and I pretty much just forget about it.

Back in 2009 right before the science-fiction movie "District 9" was

released, they posted these signs at the entrance to theater restrooms.

Everybody was all like, "Just what in the heck is this all about?!"

 

As it turns out, it was about a movie featuring a race of aliens who came to be
stranded on present day Earth. Prejudice by humans ensued and the aliens were
relegated to living in ghettos. They were not even allowed to share our restrooms.
But trust me, that was for the best.

 

The movie was full of symbolism. You know how that goes.
But it was a good show.

My son loved robots when he was little so when I spotted this

Christmas ornament, I could not resist buying it for him. As

everybody does we have ornaments representing different family

members during different stages of life.

 

This robot is a lot cuter in person.

The motel owners painted the fence around their property this sort of

sky blue color. I never could understand that. It just didn't go

with anything there. It did however stand out like a sore thumb.

Maybe that was the idea.

~ Happy Black Friday 2012 ~

Actually, I loathe Black Friday. I was out for reasons

beyond my control.

 

~ Thanksgiving 2012 ~

When the Disney/Pixar movie WALL-E was released to theaters in June of 2008,

Blockbuster (movie rental store) had these little figures for sale and I could not

resist them. The little guy with red racing stripes on the bottom left is M-O.

M-O is standing in front of the beautiful blue-eyed Extra-terrestrial Vegetation

Evaluator, EVE. To Eve's left (our right) is the star, WALL-E. And next to

WALL-E with outstretched arm is the Captain of the spaceship Axiom, B. McCrea.

 

I have a few other WALL-E figures too. I got the rest of them pretty much

at The Disney Store during clearance sales.

The Palace at dusk.

Par 4.

Golf N' Stuff, Ventura, California.

I just love it when I can rest assured.

"Clean - Safety - Clean - Safety - Clean - Safety".

 

Thank you Mickey Dees.

I was outside of an at&t store today and I took notice of the textured

outside wall. I see lots of stuff in it. I see at least two elephants, one Alfred

Hitchcock and a Beavis (from Beavis and Butt-Head). I left the picture of the wall

big so that if you want to, you can open it in a new window and look for your

own movie stars or wildlife.

 

I know most people aren't interested in knives, but for the one or

two of you who might be, here are some pictures if my newest

acquisition. A Benchmade Griptilian 550HG. Full size Made In

America goodness. I totally like the modified sheepsfoot blade shape
and I prefer the thumb hole rather than a thumbstud. Thumbstuds
mess with my fingers. I also really like the Benchmade AXIS lock
system. Liner locks and frame locks play Hell on my nails.

I have carried my Mini-Griptilian for two years

and I thought I would like to try the full size for a while. So far I'm

not disappointed and I'm gonna love to put this one through some paces too.

For your culinary viewing delight... Ladies and Gentleman, I present

to you... Long John Silver's fish and chips. Enjoy!

 

(In this neighborhood, Long John Silver's fast food is in

the same establishment as Kentucky Fried Chicken. Rock on.)



My son's cat. He is very much his own cat. But I guess they all are.

Some years ago I went with my son to an airshow for radio controlled

airplanes in Ventura, California. These airplanes (and jets) are really cool

to watch. And the detail that these planes have is great, even down to the

little pilots sitting inside.

 

 

The guys who build and fly these planes are totally into it and I am bettin' that

a lot of them are really pilots. But these aircraft are not all fun and games. They are

big and they have real engines that can takes fingers off. Yikes.

 

 

And when they fly 'em, they fly 'em high and do aerobatics just like the ones that

hold full size people. Truth be told, I flew one of these once with the over the
shoulder assistance of one of the top RC pilots in the country. If he had not been
holding the controls right along with me, that plane would have flown off into the
sunset. I'm not kidding either. I lost sight of it. But he knew what he was doing and
helped me to bring it on back to the small airfield. If you ever see these things flying
around, you should stop and take a look.

 

I took these pictures with my old Sony Mavica.

Best Subs In Town.

They have to be. I'm thinkin' that a bear in loafers wouldn't lie.

 

 

Why are you smiling?

Pretty epic movie theater, eh?

I took this picture on my drive down to San Diego not too long ago.

I went over to Barns & Noble today to see if there were any CDs that

I'd like. Right before I went inside it started to rain a bit.

 

I like the way the water formed on the sunroof. The rain was brief and

refreshing. Oh, I bought a Sergio Mendes CD and a Stevie Winwood CD. The S.W.

CD has greatest hits from when he was with Blind Faith, The Spencer Davis

Group and Traffic.

I enjoy watching my movies at night. I turn the lights off and usually

light a candle or two. It's nice. But tonight a moth kept flying around the room and

he could not resist flying right into my face over and over. I would stop the movie

and turn the lights on in a frustrated effort to rid the place of him, but he would

just disappear. They are famous for that, right?

 

However, the worm was about to turn. After the movie was over, as I blew out my
candle I spied Mr. Moth, newly deceased.  Now, I take no pleasure from small
creatures who have met their demise via the hot paraffin of a cheap Big Lots

candle, but I cannot say that deep down inside I was terribly heartbroken.

The End.

DOH!

Busted.

 

This is called a "Simpson's Bust Up". They are really inexpensive little

figures that are put together like a puzzle. They can be found on the Net

although I bought this one at the mall.  They're just fun little items that

usually put Simpson characters in compromising positions.

Not sure why in the world you would want to park that close when the lot is

FULL of EMPTY spots, but on the plus side, you got you some parking skills.

~ November 6, 2012 ~

Here is another picture I took when I went to the Gene Autry Museum

of Western Heritage in Griffith Park, California (08/12). I am sure most folks

would recognize this map of "The Ponderosa" from the television

series called Bonanza (aired 1959-1973).

 

From the museum description: "Because the show was on the air so long and in so

many countries, it is possible that more people have seen this map than any other

map in history." I bet that is true. The map was designed by Robert Temple Ayres

in 1959 and was donated to the museum in the memory of David and Rose Dortort.

David Dortort was the creator and producer of Bonanza.

 

I left the photo pretty big so if opened in a new window it is easy to see.

A few days ago this rock fell down the hillside and into the middle of a

small road I drive to get home. Somebody painted it with some bright spray paint,

because I'm tellin ya, you hit this thing and it'll wake. you. up. And these roads are

on some steep cliffs. That "bush" you see to the left of the rock is actually

the top of a tree. And at the bottom of that tree is the top of another. And

on and on.

 

On my way home tonight I saw that they had moved the rock pretty

much completely off the road.

I always liked these areas on the property of a neighbor of ours. They keep it

really really nice and it always reminds me of a state park or something. There

are many more very cool parts of their land to enjoy.

While at Walmart today, I noticed this great tool that the store

provides to their customers. It encourages folks to practice their makeup

application skills. Awesome job Walmart!

What? Oh it's not for that? Color ME red.

There's still a liiiiiiiittle Halloween left. I made my annual trek to the Halloween

stores to take advantage of their "Day After Halloween" sales. Everything is on

clearance at 50% off. I did get an early start. It was a bit overcast
at the Spirit Store today.

 

The place was pretty darn cleaned out. I don't know when it happens, but somebody

buys the Hell out of that place while I am not there. There were a couple of folks
there with basket loads of heads to purchase but I did manage to get the last what I
think is a good one. His eyes are awesome. I'm not disappointed. Someday I am
going to have some fun with all of this stuff.

 

I also bought a Rob Zombie Halloween remake Michael Myers clown mask.
This mask is not totally movie accurate. I imagine that somebody somewhere
did not want to shell out some licensing bucks. But it is pretty dang close
to Michael's. I had seen this and wanted it the first time I went to the store in
late September, but I didn't want to pay the full price. I told myself that if they had
any left when they went 50% I'd buy one then, and they did and I did.

 

This year I didn't go to the Halloween stores as often as I usually do or wanted to.
I think that gas prices had a little to do with it. I only went two times. Maybe next
year will be better.

He flew in and as fate would have it, boarded directly atop me

Captain Jack... and they be nigh inseparable.

Fitting, says I.