THEY’RE GONE

This past June, one Saturday morning, Screg and I decided to take the Trolley for fun; something we always wanted to do to see all the places that the Trolley goes. The last time I took the Trolley was about 6 years ago when we went to a Martial Arts Convention at the San Diego Civic Center. It was a fun ride; we got an early start from South Bay, parked his car at the Trolley Station parking lot and headed on the Trolley.

The Trolley routes are divided into three sections by color codes: Blue, Orange and Green lines. We took the routes of riding from South Bay’s Chula Vista through National City, Barrio Logan, Southeast San Diego, Downtown San Diego, Hazard/Mission & Fashion Valley, Old Town, Qualcomm Stadium, Grantville, San Diego State University, La Mesa, El Cajon & the last stop of Santee Town Center in which we had lunch at ‘RoadHouse’ in the strip mall. After lunch, we headed back on the Trolley and rode the reverse direction back to South Bay all the way to the end route of Tijuana Mexico and then from T.J. back to our starting point.

One of the things I noticed was our route through Old Town we passed by one of my favorite stores in which I discovered was closed; Pier 1 Imports Clearance Store no longer exists. I have shopped at this store for years and have bought nice items for the home at reasonable prices. When we got home I called one of the Pier 1 Import stores and the sales clerk said that they closed all of there clearance stores nation wide; I guess they weren’t doing too well in sales. Although I admit the last time I was there browsing most of the items were starting to look pretty gaudy; there were still a few things that caught my eye that I didn’t buy. Well, since it is an outlet store you’re not going to find those items at the Pier 1 Import stores or online.

One thing for sure is that it doesn’t take long for these vacant buildings to become a target for graffiti. I will miss finding bargains at this store. Oh, and I can’t wait for our next adventure…..riding the Coaster!!

KILATZIN, Just For You.....

Wendy's introduce.....The Baconator

Satisfy your Bacon fixation with six strips of hickory smoked bacon piled high atop two 1/4 lb patties of fresh, never frozen, beef. Complete with two slices of American cheese, mayo and ketchup for a mountain of mouth-watering taste.

Go on, obsess a little.

GOING UP OR DOWN? (Elevator Etiquette)

I have been really annoyed with students at this college that I transferred to and it relates to the elevator. On several occasions I have been put in a position where I am either going up or down an elevator and when the door opens have a student standing right in front of the door and didn’t have the courtesy to move the HELL out of the way so that I can get my ASS out of the elevator. Or, I have had some students have the audacity to squeeze by me and not say excuse me just to get on the elevator first instead of letting me out!

Does anyone know that when it comes to proper etiquette and an elevator you are technically suppose to let the person out first before you enter? It does make sense because why would you enter an elevator by having to squeeze by someone and go behind them to the back of the elevator instead of just letting them out first; when if you would have just let them out of the elevator in the first place you wouldn’t have put yourself in a position to have to squeeze by them to get in the elevator, PHEW!

I’ve had to say excuse me to some of these students standing right in front of the door so that they can get out of my way so that I can come out of the elevator which is something that I shouldn’t have to do. In addition, I was so pissed about the whole situation that I just flat out told some of them that they should let me out of the elevator first before they enter; some have apologize and some just don’t say anything. It’s just annoying to me to have to move out of the way so that they can get in the elevator. Students come in all ages, but this has occurred with the younger students (straight out of high school – early 20’s). Maybe these students don’t know what proper etiquette is when it comes to an elevator or maybe they just don’t care.

Now holding the elevator for someone is a different story and I must say that so far I haven’t had this problem with students at this college. I recall one day when I had just got on the elevator and I heard someone running and panting; I press the button to keep the elevator doors open until the person arrived. When she got on the elevator I was thinking to myself, this person looks familiar; it was just she and I on the elevator and when I looked back I realized it was Elphie. Gosh I feel old, I can’t believe how much she has grown; I remember when she was around 9 or 10. I recall when Screg and I ran into her at a neighborhood ice cream shop and she was with a friend; still in high school at the time and now she’s in college.

In the elevator we briefly talked about what a great college this was, the beautiful campus and how nice the people were. My work shift had ended, tired and ready to go home, when the elevator doors open as we headed for our cars in the parking lot; I told her to have a great weekend and we said our goodbyes.

Sushi and Ice Cream

These past months I’ve been on this Sushi and Ice Cream Kick. There are several casual dining Sushi restaurants and creameries that have opened in our area that I’ve been wanting to try. Well, I’m not into Sushi like Screg but I do like Japanese food. I must say the new sushi places that have opened in the South Bay area have all been disappointing to me.

The first place we tried was House Sushi or is it Sushi House located on Telegraph Canyon Road. The second and third places were Sushiya and Tokyo Grill, both located in the Otay Ranch Town Center and the fourth was California Sushi Bar across from Otay Ranch Town Center. I usually order the combo bento of beef and chicken teriyaki with soup, salad and tempura or California rolls.

With all of these places it was mostly the way the beef was prepared that was a disappointment. The beef was tough, chewy and the teriyaki sauce was drizzled or basted on top of the beef at the last minute instead of being cooked in with the beef. I’m not a big fan of chicken breast which is usually how chicken teriyaki is served, but the chicken was rubbery and undercooked instead of tender and juicy plus the teriyaki sauce was added on top of the chicken the same way as the beef.

I have this thing with sauces in which I prefer that their cooked-in with the meat instead of being poured on top at the last minute; I especially despise it when restaurants do this with bar b que sauce. I’ve known some restaurants to cook the meat and dip it in the bar b que sauce or serve the sauce on the side or at your table.

Sukiyaki, my favorite Japanese dish seems to be hard to find at Japanese restaurants, you don’t see it on menus too much; but when it comes to teriyaki beef I do prefer for the meat to be thinly sliced. There is still one more new place, Kyoto Sushi that will open soon in the new Shops at San Miguel Ranch that I want to try and hopefully I won’t be in for a let down.

With ice cream, both Screg and I have tried years ago dull, blah, bland “Cold Stone Creamery.” We are not fans of Cold Stone, we have the same opinion of Cold Stone and that is Yuck & Boring! We find the taste of their ice cream to be flavorless, not sweet enough and we don’t like the texture. Other places with the same concept of ice cream being mixed-in or blended with fruit or dry topping; Maggie Moo's located in the Park Valley Center, Marble Slab, Moo-Time and Carvel. Well, we’ve tried them all and both Moo-Time located in Coronado and Carvel in the Shops at San Miguel Ranch ice cream is overly sweet. Marble Slab in the Otay Ranch Town Center taste is similar to Cold Stone. Although our preference in ice cream is hard like Baskin Robbins over soft serve like Diary Queen, we have never been disappointed with Maggie Moo's; their texture and taste, just right!

Isn't Maggie adorable?

Now Showing: A Double Feature

When was the last time you saw double feature? For me, it was way back in the 70’s when my family and I would go and see ‘Blaxploitation,’ films and ‘Chinese Martial Arts Cinemas’ starring Bruce Lee or other martial artists.

With blaxploitation films I remember “JD’s Revenge and “Sugar Hill” (just to name a few) and with Chinese Cinemas there were a couple of other Bruce’s on the big screen that did martial arts such as “Le” and “Li.” I even remember some female martial artists that could kick some serious ASS; like ‘China Doll’ and ‘Kung Fu Mama’. Back then it was usually 2-3 movies for one low price of around a buck or two.

Well, Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez bring you “Grindhouse”, an action packed double feature of “Planet Terror” and “Death Proof”. Quentin gives Grindhouse that 70’s look. In addition; he’s added imaginary previews of made-up movies.

Tarantino was influenced by Chinese Cinema and Blaxploitation films.

Grindhouse is an American term for a theater that mainly showed exploitation films. Grind-houses were known for non-stop programs of B movies, often consisting of a double feature where two films were shown back to back. These films were all exploitation 70’s genres (e.g. kung fu, & Italian horror—also known as giallo, sexploitation, "good old boy" redneck car-chase movies, blaxploitation and spaghetti Westerns.)

My cousin thinks Quentin has a demented look… That he and his films are weird. But I like Tarantino’s films and so far he hasn’t let me down yet.

Grindhouse is now playing at a theatre near you and I can’t wait to see it!

THE REAL ITALIAN JOB

Everyone will always affiliate the “Mini Cooper” car with the movie “The Italian Job”. Sales of the Mini Coopers did skyrocket after the movie.

In my opinion, the Real Italian Job is the Chrysler 300. This car exemplifies, Italian, Bad Ass, Don’t f—k with me! I haven’t seen the inside of these cars but I love the exterior; especially the sleek, black ones with the tinted windows and big chrome wheels.

Screg and I refer to the Chrysler 300 as the Mafia car.

You be the judge.

A Sad Day in Rock History

1951 - 2007

Holy Shit! Lead singer, Brad Delp of the Rock Group Boston was found dead yesterday in his Southern New Hampshire home by his long time girlfriend; he was only 55. There was no evidence of foul-play, he was a fairly healthy guy; a non-smoker and vegetarian for four decades. Brad was described by his neighbors as a generous and friendly down-to-earth person; he was the type of guy that would help his neighbors shovel snow off thier lawns and driveways. In addition, he also performed several concerts to benefit various charities.

I still can't believe it. I remember when Screg and I saw them perform in concert a couple years ago at Pechanga. They were awesome! Brad's high range voice, he still had it when they performed that year. We were so looking forward to seeing them perform again in concert; we would check the Reader Newspaper every week to see when they were coming back to San Diego.

I heard the news on the radio and was pretty pissed off at the media for not covering any information on his death; it was the usual same-ole-shit about Anna Nicole Smith. I was also pretty bummed about the radio stations not playing any of his songs as tribute to him.

In my opinion, Boston was one of the greatest rock groups of all times. I'll be playing Boston alot in my car this week. Rest in peace Brad, you'll be missed!