If Ya Can't Stand the Heat...

Not much to say about these pictures except that they were shot through the heat radiating from the flames of the grill. These were taken on Memorial Day at Lake Poway. I really liked the effect the radiation had on the background, but didn't notice it until I got home and viewed the pictures on the monitor. Had I realized the effects I was getting, I would've taken more shots with more interesting backgrounds. There will be more barbecues before the summer is over...

Heat Radiation

Radiant Background

Houttuynia Cordata

We spent Saturday afternoon at Mission Trails Regional Park trying to get some photos to enter into an international photography contest. I went there with the goal of getting some "paintings" of the old indian dam and landscape, but was surprised by the number of visitors there -- this was the first time I had seen so many people around that area in all the years I've been going there. With so many people around and on the dam, getting the photograph I envisioned was impossible. I tried making the best of the situation by incorporating some people into the photographs, but I wasn't satisfied with the results. I did, however, manage to get some pictures of some flowers, Houttuynia cordata, that I'm pretty satisfied with, but I don't think they're international photography contest caliber. Would love to hear your thoughts...

Houttuynia Cordata Dream

Houttuynia Cordata Painting

Attack of the dinosaur... skeleton?!

Since its arrival at the San Diego Natural History Museum, Anthony has been begging us to go see Body Worlds, the exhibit that displays human bodies in various forms. The exhibit is really quite amazing and extremely educational, and seeing a real human body sans skin, and all the internal organs, is an experience one must not miss. One of the things that really stood out for me was seeing a smoker's lungs laying beside healthy lungs -- the difference was like black and white... literally. The healthy lungs where a shade of light gray, while the smoker's lungs where a deep dark gray, nearly black. I would've liked to have taken some pictures, but photography was not permitted.

After touring the exhibit, we made our way to the main hall to tour the rest of the museum. As we stepped out into the main hall, we noticed visitors screaming and running for the nearest exits -- it seemed a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton had come alive and was running amuck through the museum!

As we were standing by the doorway dumbfounded, a lady ran by in front of us and yelled, "Run for it!" She didn't need to tell us twice -- I grabbed Gena, and Gena grabbed Anthony, and we hauled ass to the nearest exit. As we were running, I heard heavy footsteps behind us. I looked over my shoulder and noticed the T. Rex skeleton bearing down on us -- I barely had time to aim my camera over my shoulder and capture the image you see below before making it safely out of the building. I guess the events in the movie "A Night at the Museum" really can happen... ;)

The T. Rex Skeleton Chasing Us

Sicilian Festival

After our little blunder of getting the date of the Sicilian Festival mixed up and going down to Little Italy the day before the event (see previous post), we finally made it down there on the correct day. And what a day it was! After driving around downtown for nearly 30 minutes looking for a parking space, we finally found one in an underground garage, a 2-minute walk from the Festival. One could already smell the Italian food and hear the live Italian singers and musicians performing on three stages! Vendors lined both sides of the streets selling Italian shirts, caps, keychains, license plates, books, you name it! But of course, the food was the most popular item, with people lining up 30 deep just to get some lasagne, spaghetti, ravioli, and a ton of other pasta and non-pasta dishes, as well as delicious Italian deserts (gelato being one of my favorites). What a great atmosphere! Check out some of the pictures below...

Entrance to the Sicilian Festival

Fresh-caught Fish

Spaghetti Eating Contest

A Traditional Pupazzo (or Marionette)

Cool Older Sicilian Gentleman with a Cool Hat

Another Cool Sicilian with a Cool Hat

I love this license plate!

Anthony feeding a stuffed horse

Little Italy Spaghetteria

If I'm not careful, this just might turn into a restaurant review blog! But I can't help it -- this weekend we visited two restaurants with which we were thoroughly impressed: Phil's BBQ (see prior post), and now the Little Italy Spaghetteria. However, we didn't actually eat at the Spaghetteria, we only went inside to order an antipasta and calamari fritti to go. We heard about the Sicilian Festival that was supposed to take place this weekend, but we got the days mixed up and drove down to Little Italy a day early. So as not to make this a wasted trip, and because Gena had a craving for calamari fritti, we decided to check out the Spaghetteria just because it was right next to wear we parked.

The first thing that catches one's eye is the cute little Ferrari-red Fiat 500 parked in the middle of the dining room floor. Judging from pictures we've seen, the Fiat actually makes its way around the restaurant a couple times per year (not by itself, of course).

Once your eyes have taken in the cute little Fiat, they next start to wander around the restaurant, from the red and white checkered tablecloths to the portraits of Italian celebreties on the walls, then to a giant cupboard laden with dry pasta noodles, cans of tomato paste, garlic, bottles of wine, and other good stuff reminiscent of grandma's kitchen. Oh, did I mention the moped sitting on the wall separating the booths?

Tucked away in the back corner, and a little bit in the dark, is the bar, a neat little place for friends to hang out and throw back a few while watching one of seven shows being displayed on their seven plasma televisions above the bar.

After taking everything in visually, our to-go order finally arrived and I had time to shoot off a couple more pics of Gena and Anthony before heading home to enjoy the food. We decided that we would all have to come here one evening and dine in this remarkable restaurant.

Phil's BBQ

After hearing friends and coworkers rave about Phil's BBQ, we finally decided to check it out Friday evening and go there for dinner. OMG! The place is awesome! And the food is super delicious! Apparently, Phil's has been in San Diego for about 10 years now -- how is it that we never heard of it?! Actually, we have heard of it.

Phil's BBQ is located in a strip mall right next to Kobey's Swap Meet on Sports Arena Boulevard. We visit Kobey's Swap Meet a couple times a year and have seen Phil's delivery and catering trucks parked on the opposite side of the fence. Thinking it was just a "regular" BBQ and rib restaurant like any other, we never really gave it a second glance. Y'see, other BBQ restaurants left a bad taste in our mouths -- they're overpriced, their portions are small, and their ribs don't have any meat on 'em. Plus, their side dishes left a lot to be desired.

Now, I'm not getting paid for saying all this, but we were thoroughly impressed with Phil's from the moment we turned into the parking lot -- there was a line of people in front of the restaurant waiting to get in, and at one corner of the building was a sign that read "20 minute wait from this point". Phil's doesn't take reservations -- you walk in, order your food, find a table and, after about 20 minutes, they will buzz you to pick up your food at the counter.

Eating such a meal as in the pictures below can get quite messy, and napkins or paper towels don't always get everything off. With so many customers dining in, the restrooms would quickly fill to capacity with people waiting to wash their hands. Leave it to Phil's to think of the customer: they installed a huge washbasin outside of the restrooms where several customers can wash their hands at once!

Needless to say, we thoroughly enjoyed the food, atmosphere, and experience and will definitely be dining their regularly.

California, Here We Come!

Thursday evening (May 14, 2009), the fourth graders of Anthony's school put on a musical/play about the history of California, "California, Here We Come!" From it's discovery by the first European (the Portuguese João Rodrigues Cabrilho in 1542), to the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) which secured American control over California, to being admitted to the United States in 1850, the play included the California Gold Rush, Hollywood, and all things leading up to the present day that made California the great state it is today (and the eighth largest economy in the world). The students put on an excellent performance filled with energy that had the audience tapping their toes in time to the music and laughing at the jokes that were slipped in. They even sang the hit song "California, Here We Come" by Phantom Planet! And they did all this in half an hour! Of all the plays I've watched Anthony perform in, this was my favorite!

Below are a few pictures from the play; clicking on any one of them will take you to the gallery page where you can view more.

Part of the cast of "California Here We Come!

A young Juan Cabrillo

Anthony explaining the importance of water to California

Gena in the Flowers

Going through some older photos, I came across these two of Gena sitting in a field of flowers. These were taken at the same location as the other flower photos -- about two blocks from where I work, in front of one of Qualcomm's many buildings. These were taken a week after the flower photos, but the grass had already started turning brown by then.

(Clicking on a picture will take you to the gallery)

"Gena Amongst the Flowers"